Trip Down a Hill
by Deferonz
Summary: It was honestly kind of funny that all it took for the path of the ninja world to drastically change was Naruto Uzumaki falling down a hill. The boy at the dock helped him up, and their destined friendship began a few years early. Naruto/Sasuke Friendship ; Team 7 Friendship
1. Chapter 1 - Naruto

**Oh my. A Re-done first chapter!? How could this be!?**

**Mostly? A lot of people leaving reviews saying my first chapter was bad, and me sooooort of agreeing with them. I've gone back and taken out all references to Naruto being physically abused by the villagers (cause that was pretty stupid), and also changed the scene at the end to more accurately reflect how the villagers treat Naruto in canon.**

**I've left my Pre-Chapter words in here just as they used to be, because I think they're both morbidly embarrassing and pretty funny. (They're also, like... sort of wrong?)  
**

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**Well, hello.**

**This is my going to be the first Fanfiction that I actually upload (I've definitely written a few before now that will go unpublished).**

**I haven't been an active part of the Naruto fandom for some time, but I got a sudden burst of inspiration, and have decided I should probably, y'know, post something I've written for once.**

**So, here's a Naruto/Sasuke Bromance. I'm not sure where I'll go with pairings, but keep in mind nothing will be going too crazy.**

**Without further ado, enjoy.**

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**Chapter 1: A Trip down a hill**

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It was late, and Naruto was alone.

This wasn't new, of course. Naruto was alone far more often than not. His only real relationships were with some of the other kids in his class, Shikamaru, Choji, and Kiba. They, at the very least, actually allowed him to hang out with them, which Naruto supposed was something, given that most people who saw him treated him like a disease.

He couldn't really call them friends though. They always left at the end of the day, when their parents came to get them, and Naruto was left behind, forgotten.

Alone.

He was walking next to a river that snaked through the middle of the Leaf Village. It was a relatively cool day, though it wasn't like he even changed his outfit to suit the weather.

He watched without any real interest as hues of red's and oranges glittered across the surface of the water.

_It's pretty_. Naruto couldn't help thinking.

He saw him a second later.

The black-haired boy who'd been the star of their class for as long as Naruto could remember was sat at the end of a pier. He was staring into the water with an aura of sadness hanging around him.

He hadn't truly figured out what it was that happened, he struggled most days to finish his homework without Iruka Sensei's help, let alone figure out a mystery with nothing but vague rumors, but he _had _been able to piece one thing together.

Sasuke was different.

He was quieter, though Naruto thought he'd maybe said three or four sentences in the entire time he'd known him, and more reserved, even if the only time Naruto had heard the boy raise his voice was when he'd 'accidentally' set his pants on fire. And he would've gotten away with that one, had Iruka Sensei not found the matchbox stashed in his desk.

In hindsight, he really should've put it... anywhere else.

Despite their misgivings, Naruto didn't truly hate Sasuke, even with what he might've said to him. He was annoying, the same as all the other kids in his class who never really got to know him before they made their minds up about him, but indifference was still better than the looks of fear and disgust he got from many of the adults in the shopping district.

So, yes, Sasuke annoyed Naruto, often more so than his other classmates, but he supposed that was to be expected, they might as well have been polar opposites.

But all of a sudden, after having been absent from classes for nearly two weeks, Sasuke had returned, and he'd come back changed.

Naruto hadn't liked him, the new kid who'd walked in that day and sat in Sasuke's seat.

Sasuke seemed to hear his footsteps, his head swiveling up to gaze directly at him. The boy's curious eyes shifted almost instantly, narrowing until he was looking at Naruto with an annoyance that almost mirrored his own.

They didn't speak as Naruto passed by Sasuke's position at the dock, and if Naruto had his way, they never would.

_He seemed sad._

He was almost blown away that he'd thought that. He didn't care what Sasuke was going through, he just wanted to get home, eat some ramen, and sleep.

_Maybe I should talk to him_.

Naruto slowed, he was parallel with Sasuke now, the shadow the sun cast directly covering the boy on the dock.

He kept walking.

He didn't care, not about Sasuke.

_Maybe I should go down there._

It didn't matter, he'd just forget about this tomorrow anyway.

_I should… I should talk to him._

He didn't. Naruto kept walking…

Directly into a root.

/-/

He was falling, that much Naruto knew for sure. It wasn't graceful, he was rolling end over end, trying desperately to regain his footing, to no avail. By the time he rolled to a stop at the bottom of the hill, a foot or so from the water, he was covered in dirt, and grassy residue.

Nothing felt injured, with the exception of his pride.

He pushed himself up and sat cross-legged upon the earth.

"Are you okay?"

Naruto glanced in the voice's direction, but clearly the fall had jostled something in his brain, because he thought he'd just heard-

"Naruto?"

Sasuke had come over to check on him, and Naruto idly thought that nothing would ever truly surprise him again, because it seemed like Sasuke Uchiha actually cared if he'd been hurt.

He held back a growl. He didn't want anyone, least of all Sasuke, to see him like this.

"What's it to you!?" Naruto shouted in response to Sasuke's earlier inquiry, feeling hot with anger and shame.

Sasuke's concerned expression morphed into one of spite and bitterness at his words.

"Nothing," the boy turned and walked away, sitting back down at the end of the wooden dock. "Forget I said anything."

And now it was up to Naruto to feel bad about how he'd reacted, his own temper having gotten the best of him. He thought of how he could correct the situation, sitting there on the grassy hillside, maybe a few feet from Sasuke, as he studied the look on the young Uchiha's face.

It wasn't sad, like he'd thought earlier.

It was more…

Empty.

There wasn't anything there, not truly. The lifeless expression seemed to say that the boy was off somewhere else, barely present at all.

It struck Naruto that he often wore a similar expression, as he passed by the crowds in the village, whispering about him just loud enough for him to be able to pick up what they were saying. It had hurt him so horribly, once upon a time, but he'd only been able to let words get to him for so long before he'd closed himself off from the world.

Or, before he'd raged against it with all his might. Until he'd grown spiteful and angry, and decided to take his anger out on them in a way he was sure they'd notice. Pulling pranks on the people who'd been mean to him… Forcing them to pay attention to him, to acknowledge him… it felt good.

But it wasn't the same, either, the look on the boy's face. It wasn't like Naruto's, which had been slowly stripped away at, bits and pieces coming off until it was nothing. No, Sasuke's looked like it had been torn apart in one fell swoop.

"Ah-"

Naruto had blurted something out before he even knew what he wanted to say. He'd simply wanted to make that look go away, to make someone who felt like he did… just a bit…

Sasuke turned to face him, though this time his eyes betrayed the fact that he wasn't listening to Naruto at all.

"What do you want?"

Once again, his cheeks felt hot.

"Sorry…"

Sasuke's eyebrows rose, and some life returned to his face as he tilted his head.

"What?"

"I said I'm sorry, okay!?" Naruto's face was burning, his eyes closed. he couldn't bare to see Sasuke laugh at him, because of course he would. That was all anyone ever did when Naruto spoke. "I just-"

"It's fine."

Now it was Naruto's turn to be curious, and as he opened one of his eyes, he saw that Sasuke was once again looking down into the water.

_He didn't laugh?_

He'd been expecting the boy to snark at him, his voice filled with mirth. '_Oh, you're apologizing? whatever for, Naruto?_'

Before he really knew what he was doing, Naruto had walked over to the dock as well, and stood beside Sasuke.

His classmate stared up at him, clearly annoyed to have been interrupted from his train of thought.

"What do you want, loser?"

Naruto's famously short temper exploded, and he immediately shouted at the boy below him.

"Why you little! Why don't I show you my Shuriken Jutsu I've been practicing, Huh!?"

"Go ahead," Sasuke sneered out at him. "Even from here, it's not like you'd hit me."

Naruto grounded his teeth together but found his anger dissipating. He'd momentarily felt that same rivalry he used to share with Sasuke, as one sided as that'd been, but the look in the boy's eye, that 'I'm better than you' look that used to drive him crazy… it was no longer present. It had been replaced with a look of apathetic boredom.

"What happened to you?"

Sasuke whirled on him, his eyes widening slightly, as if the question was completely unfamiliar to him, or perhaps that Naruto was the last person he had expected to have ask him about it.

"What!?" He was angry, that much was clear, but Naruto pressed on regardless. He'd never been one for subtleties.

"I heard the other kids talking about something, I tried to pick up as much as I could from them," He squinted his eyes, trying to think about what it was they'd said back then, even as it eluded him. "But no one would tell me what actually happened."

He looked right at Sasuke, trying to decipher the truth from the boy's face. He found nothing there, just a harsh bitterness.

"So, I'm just some gossip piece then? I guess you want to be able to talk about me with them, hell, you might even make a friend."

"Oi!" Naruto was really, really trying his best to be nice to the boy beside him, but Sasuke wasn't helping his own case at all. "I'm just trying to figure it out, I'm-"

A second passed in silence.

"You're?"

He knew what he'd almost said, and why he'd stopped himself. Naruto had never been very good at talking about how he felt, or the way he viewed the world and everyone around him.

Just this once though…

_I'll try._

"It's really hard." He managed to push past his lips. "Being alone."

Sasuke's eyes widened ever so slightly, before narrowing a second or two later, the boy's face contorting with anger.

"What…"

Suddenly, Naruto felt his back hit the wooden dock, the wind having been knocked out of him. His head was pounding, and he felt the pain in the back of his skull worsen as the boy atop him forced it down onto the hard wood, his hand gripping Naruto's shirt as he snarled madly.

"What the hell would you know about being alone!"

He could hear them sometimes when he was laying down to rest, the voices of the people in the village, whispering names and insults at him as he walked down the streets, trying desperately to validate himself. He both loved and hated them.

Sure, they were mean to him, refused to let him into their stores and stalls… but they didn't forget about him. They acknowledged his existence, for better or for worse.

He made sure of that. It was all he had, after all.

That hate was so much better than being forgotten.

"You said it yourself, didn't you? That I didn't have any friends?"

Sasuke didn't get off of him, and the grip on his shirt didn't loosen either. But the boy was watching him, waiting to hear what he'd say.

"It's… I don't have anybody."

The grip loosened minutely.

"I've never had anyone. Lord Third said my parents died the day I was born. Everyone in the village hates me, and I don't even know why."

The hand on his shirt let go.

"Sometimes I stop and sit a while, and just think about how much it…" He was pouring out his soul a little, but he liked to think his words were having some effect, so he kept going. "How much it sucks to be alone."

Sasuke was just sitting there now, hands at his sides as he straddled him.

"You just… you looked like you were alone, too."

The boy atop him said nothing as he dismounted him, having decided to sit down beside Naruto on the pier. He was looking out onto the river, and as Naruto himself sat up, he noted that the sun was a bit lower in the sky, causing the last lingering bits of daylight to crest across the water's surface.

"You're right."

Naruto sat up, a foot or so away from where Sasuke was sitting with his back turned away from him. It was his turn to listen now, he thought, as the boy seemed to psyche himself up for something.

"Being alone is the worst hell of all."

He didn't say anything more, even after Naruto waited for a few seconds, so he chose to stand up and walk to where the other kid was sitting.

Sasuke was crying.

Naruto sat next to him, not really knowing what to say. Luckily, Sasuke began of his own accord, his voice scratchy with emotion.

"Three months ago, my brother murdered every single member of the Uchiha clan. I… I was the sole exception."

Naruto had been expecting the worst, but that had still managed to surpass his wildest fantasies.

"He wasn't even showing me mercy, he just… didn't bother killing me." Sasuke's fists and teeth clenched, his knuckles going white. "I was too weak to be worth killing."

Naruto had no clue what to say, he didn't think there was a good response to what Sasuke had said. He was trying desperately to think of something, anything, to say.

"I miss them." It was a quieter voice, barely above a whisper. "There are so many things," Sasuke was breaking down now, his voice quivering, tears flowing freely. "So many things I want to say to them, I just… wanted them to be there for me."

Sasuke stopped speaking after that, and Naruto was left with the boy's small, hiccuping sobs, and the churning of the river beyond them.

Even despite the awkward atmosphere, Naruto decided he'd wait and listen for Sasuke to speak up again, even if waiting and listening weren't exactly his strongest suits.

It wasn't for a few more minutes that Sasuke did speak up again, and by then the sun had set fully, blanketing the two in darkness.

"I don't have any friends in class either." Sasuke said after he'd stopped crying. "Everyone looks at me like I'm some animal exhibit at the zoo."

Naruto almost laughed, because it felt like Sasuke had just described exactly how Naruto had always felt. Whenever he'd walked among the adults in the street, whispering to themselves when they thought he wasn't looking, he'd felt like an exotic creature, like he didn't belong.

It suddenly clicked into place, the fact that they were so similar.

"It's settled then!" Naruto shouted out, and it occurred to him when Sasuke jumped about a foot off the ground that he hadn't spoken a word in at least fifteen minutes, and Sasuke may have forgotten he was there.

"W-what's settled?!"

Naruto stood up and offered Sasuke his trademarked grin.

"I suppose you and I will just have to be friends!"

The suggestion didn't quite receive the resounding applause he'd been hoping for.

"You and me? Friends? The hell are you talking about loser!?" Sasuke looked like he didn't quite know what to feel, caught in an odd emotional knot.

Naruto had no such problems. He was perfectly capable of expressing himself.

"Would you stop calling me a loser, you loser!" He wasn't quite angry with the boy, he wasn't sure he could be, after hearing all of that, but he couldn't deny being slightly exhausted with him. "It's getting really old!"

"Until you stop being a loser," Sasuke was standing, his hands balled into fists, and a monstrous pout on his face. He looked like he wanted to fight Naruto and hug him all at the same time, "I won't stop calling you a loser!"

Naruto had been wrong, he was able to get angry at Sasuke quite easily.

"Grr, Dumby!"

"Idiot!"

"Crybaby!"

That one seemed to really set Sasuke off because his cheeks were red. He inhaled deeply, and Naruto thought just for a moment that he was going to call him some incredibly horrible name.

"Dirty Fox!"

And suddenly Naruto was just confused. He watched quizzically as Sasuke visibly deflated, looking down at the ground a bit sheepishly.

"S-sorry…"

"Sorry? Sorry for what?"

Sasuke looked borderline mortified.

"I'm sorry I called you that, I-I didn't know what it meant," He was fidgeting, like that time Kiba hit him, and his mom had dragged him into the classroom the next day to make him say he was sorry, "The people in the village call you that sometimes, I just…"

They did? He'd never heard them say that, and nothing came to mind when he thought of a fox, other than two red eyes and a snarling mouth he'd seen in a nightmare or two when he was younger.

_Probably nothing important._

"Err…" Naruto was at a loss, but figured he might as well milk this for all it was worth, "Well, I'll forgive you, just this once..."

He paused dramatically, before a grin spread across his face.

"But, only if you agree to be my friend!" Naruto held out his right hand, offering it to the boy in front of him.

Sasuke gave him a skeptical look, one which warped quickly into what might've been the first smile he'd seen on Sasuke's face in a few months.

"I guess that's fine."

The black-haired boy reached out and grasped Naruto's hand in his own.

They were both just children, trying to make their ways in an unforgiving world. In that moment, however, they both felt like they'd made a very small, very significant change.

/-/

Class the next day was an odd affair.

Everything seemed normal to the three or four students who arrived earlier than Sasuke Uchiha as the boy walked into the room that day. He sat by himself in the middle-left row, taking the window seat, and began his usual routine of aimlessly staring outside. He was lost in his own little world within a minute.

Things were normal.

Most of the other children in the class filed in as per usual, going about their day to day activities, making fun of each other, gossiping, seeing how many rubber bands they could shoot at Shikamaru before he woke up, but everything changed when Naruto burst into the classroom.

Not that him bursting in wasn't normal, because it was easily the most predictable part of the day.

No, it was what the boy did upon entering that turned heads.

He walked to the left of the room, and immediately took the seat next to lone Uchiha.

"Hey, Sasuke!" Naruto gave the other boy his trademark grin and started working on getting everything he needed for the day set up on his desk. "Hey, can I borrow a pencil? I forgot one again."

The boy in question didn't respond, but he did break out of his own head long enough to give Naruto a single, small "Mm" of acknowledgement, reaching back and handing him a rather used object from his bag.

Several students eyes widened, but their gossiping was interrupted as Iruka Sensei arrived, opened the door, and greeted them with his traditional "Good morning, class". The students gave him a rather similar response.

/-/

The morning passed by as normal, Iruka was giving them a very basic lesson on the natures of Chakra, Fire, Water, Earth, Lightning, and Wind. He also noted that some families had special chakra natures or skills unique to them.

"A good example of this," Iruka stated, as he was walking around the classroom, gesturing to a small diagram of an eye he'd made on the board, "Would be the leaf's very own Hyuga clan, they have an inherited Dojutsu known as the Byakugan."

Naruto liked to pretend he knew what some of those words meant.

"Why, our very own Hinata is the heiress of the Hyuga clan," He gestured to a small, shy girl sitting in the front-middle row, "Hinata, do you know anything about the Byakugan?"

Naruto, along with the rest of the class, turned towards the Hyuga in the front row, and watched as she began to fidget, casting her eyes down at the table.

"I… I don't know all that much about it, Sensei."

Iruka seemed to realize the mistake he'd made, putting Hinata on the spot, as the nervous girl's face reddened, and she tried to make herself smaller in her chair.

"Ah, my apologies Hinata," Iruka smiled gently, and the smaller girl seemed to sit up ever so slightly. "Here I am, trying to pass off my duties as a teacher, how lazy of me!"

He got a few laughs for that, including a light giggle from Hinata herself, and she wasn't hiding herself in her seat quite so much anymore. Naruto thought she was cute when she laughed, he liked the sound of it.

He was daydreaming now, remembering when he ran in front of her to stop her getting bullied, something he'd had a lot of experience dealing with, and how they'd just beat him up instead. They'd even ripped the scarf he'd been wearing; he'd gotten a cold later that day from its absence. Hinata herself, however, had been nice to him, going as far as to thank him.

He hadn't shown it at the time, but it had meant a lot to him. She was just about the only person who'd ever been kind to him.

"Naruto, did you hear me?"

And suddenly he realized that everyone was looking right at him, snickering to themselves, and Iruka was giving him that look that said he was annoyed, sure, but mostly just disappointed in him.

He hated that look, more than anything.

"Er…" He tried to remember what it was that Iruka Sensei was saying, but all he was getting was the lecture he received after he had nearly broken his leg trying to do a backflip off the playgrounds jungle-gym. "I-It's-"

"It's Fire."

Naruto glanced beside him, to where the whisper had come from, and was surprised to find Sasuke Uchiha, hands crossed in front of his mouth, trying to act inconspicuous.

He wasn't sure if he should trust Sasuke, this could all be a trick, after all, just yesterday afternoon they had been bitter rivals, intent on grinding each other into the dirt.

_But hey,_ Naruto thought, _better than nothing._

"It's fire, Iruka Sensei!"

His teacher's expression instantly became one of surprise, and then, with an odd sense of pride, he smiled.

"Yes, Naruto, that's correct," He walked over to the board, and wrote out two words, and an arrow connecting them, "Wind's natural counter is fire, as Naruto pointed out for us."

'As Naruto pointed out for us.'

Even if he hadn't really come up with it himself, Naruto couldn't help the swell of pride in himself at hearing those words, along with the surprised, and slightly disappointed looks of his classmates. They'd probably hoped to see him make a fool of himself.

Naruto turned to the boy sitting next to him and smiled widely.

"Thanks, Sasuke!"

The other boy didn't say anything, but he did give him a small, almost invisible smile.

/-/

It was late, but for once, Naruto wasn't alone.

He was walking just a bit ahead of Sasuke, as they crossed through the middle of the village's shopping center. This time in the evening, there was the most traffic of the day, as people were getting off of work, or coming back from missions, and coming here to eat, shop, or run errands.

Naruto was excited, he'd never walked with a friend, even if it was just to the small Uchiha's new apartment that Lord Third had rented out for him, thinking correctly that it was probably best for Sasuke not to have to live in the house his parents were murdered in.

"I know this really great place, Oh man! Their ramen is the best, you've gotta try it!"

Naruto skipped ahead a little and turned back around to gauge Sasuke's response.

The boy had this look on his face that screamed that he was uncomfortable, and even in his excitement, Naruto couldn't miss it.

"Um… I'm a little tired…" Sasuke's voice was quiet, like he felt a little bit bad about what he said. "I…"

Naruto had never been very good at picking up on social ques, but even he could catch that one. He frowned slightly, Ichiraku was only a few minutes from where they were, and it was in the direction they were going, so it wouldn't exactly be a huge detour.

But if Sasuke really didn't want to... well, Naruto didn't want to force him or anything, especially since they were just getting to know each other.

He was just about ready to give up and skip the Ramen tonight when he felt something wet drip down his back.

"Woops, sorry kid," It was a ninja, at least Chuunin, if the vest were to be believed, and he'd just poured his drink all over Naruto, "Looks like I need to be more careful."

The ninja's friend beside him made no effort to conceal his snorting laugh.

Naruto wasn't really sure what to do. Sasuke had never seen him get bullied, hell, he was pretty sure no one from his class had, and if he'd thought it was humiliating alone, it was nothing compared to this.

He found anger pouring through him, an anger that charged him, gave him strength. He turned back towards the two ninjas and bared his teeth at them. He wasn't really sure why he took on such an animalistic expression, but it had come to him more on instinct than anything.

The two Chuunin, who'd previously been laughing and pointing at him, now shirked away, a small bit of fear on their faces.

"H-hey!" Drink-guy's friend sputtered out. "The hell d-do you think you're doing!?"

"Psh, k-kids no fun." Drink-guy shouted just a bit too forcefully, turning around and gesturing for his friend. "C'mon."

"Right!"

The two disappeared into the crowd around them without another word, and Naruto was left to process what he'd just experienced on his own.

_Why… why is everyone so afraid of me!? _He couldn't help wanting to shout, to run up and ask every single person who was walking by. _Why do they run away, and call me names under their breath? Why do they pour drinks on me, and refuse to let me buy from their stalls? Why does everyone avoid me like I'm some… disease!?_

He found himself growing more and more upset, until a voice called out to him, snapping him out of his head.

"Um, Naruto?"

He turned around, remembering that he'd been traveling with someone.

The voice had been Sasuke's. Quiet, like he didn't want to set Naruto off, but also firm, like couldn't bear to see him like this either.

"I'd like to go to that ramen place, if that's alright with you."

His eyes widened, for even he, a kid not even a decade old, could tell that Sasuke was trying to make him feel better.

And suddenly Naruto's smile had reappeared, perhaps slightly dimmer than before, but no less real.

"That sounds awesome!"

**End Chapter 1**

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**Didn't used to be a note here, but I've put one here to say that the newest chapter, Chapter 59, should also be out once this chapter uploads. Or, at least, like later in the day after this one uploads.**

**Alright, that's it. See you all... well, from here, I guess I'd see you all roughly a year and a half later?**

**Meh. See you all next week!**


	2. Chapter 2 - Sasuke

**Alright, so, here I am with the second chapter of this thing. **

**Not too much to say, if I'm being honest. I do want to note that the speed at which this second chapter released at is largely due to the fact that I had about half of chapter 2 written before I released the first chapter, so the speed of future releases will probably be a bit slower than this one. Not by too much, I hope.**

**Without further ado, let's get into our first Sasuke Chapter. **

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**Chapter 2: An Attempt at Normal**

* * *

Sasuke hadn't been sure what to expect of a place that Naruto would frequent, but it certainly hadn't been Ichiraku.

It was quaint, in the kind of way a larger, more well-rounded shop could never hope to be, and Sasuke found himself charmed almost immediately with the place, as the older gentleman behind the counter turned around and gave the two of them a bright smile.

"Good to see you, Naruto!" a young girl called out from the back of the shop, Sasuke guessed that she was working on the ramen.

He didn't actually know, he'd never been to a ramen shop, nor had he ever been any good at doing new things or breaking out of his shell. He was going to make an effort though, just this once, so that Naruto wouldn't be too down about those people earlier.

That perpetual smile on Naruto's face was fake, Sasuke knew that, but he'd try to keep it there as long as he could. The boy didn't look right without it.

"Hey Sis!" Naruto climbed into one of the 6 or so stools set up in front of the counter, and Sasuke did the same, "Hey old man!"

The Chef didn't chafe at Naruto's words, and instead seemed to smile wider. He finished washing a cup, placed it somewhere in the back, and stood in front of the two of them.

"Evening Naruto!" He looked at Sasuke appraisingly, and seemed unsure what to make of him. "I see you've brought a friend?"

There was both a hint of surprise and a note of optimism in the statement that Sasuke was able to catch, like he'd never expected Naruto to have any friends, but was happy for him nonetheless.

"Yeah! This is Sasuke! He's in my class."

Sasuke didn't miss the faint recognition in the man's eyes as they darted towards him, and then quickly moved away. The girl in the back had halted her movements as well, but continued the moment after. Sasuke hadn't missed that, either.

_Yes, _he thought, _I was the one in all the papers._

He didn't say that, though. He'd never been very outspoken, certainly nothing like Naruto, though in _his_ case that may have been more obliviousness than any conscious effort.

"Nice to meet you." was all that Sasuke was able to squeeze out, and the man in front of him adopted a pitying expression.

He hated it. Hated it more than anything.

He wasn't really sure why he came here, this was what always happened. Next thing he knew he'd be given a complementary bowl of ramen, and perhaps he'd like to take one more home with him, because of course he was too young to be living alone, and he must not be able to cook for himself and-

"Oi, old man!"

Naruto's voice snapped Sasuke out of his thoughts, and he looked over to see what the boy could be on about now.

_Probably just ordering his food, _Sasuke mused.

"Sasuke doesn't like being looked at like that! Just treat him like normal!"

It seemed as if the tension in the air had both doubled and broken all at once.

_Why is it he's only ever perceptive when it's mortifying for me!?_

The Chef, to his credit, seemed to catch on to his prior mistake, and regarded the both of them in a different way, sizing them up, before his face returned to that same bright smile he'd had before.

"My apologies, young Sasuke," He brushed his apron down and bowed ever so slightly, in a way that seemed to hurt his back, but if the expression on his face said anything to Sasuke, it was that he'd never let that stop him, "It wouldn't do for my customers to be uncomfortable. Please, excuse my discourtesy."

Sasuke fought the urge to immediately apologize.

He lost.

"It's fine, really. I get those looks everywhere I go, it's nothing memorable."

"Ah, but you see, sir, as the owner of an establishment such as this," The girl who made the ramen came out to the front and sat 2 bowls of identical fillings in front of Naruto and Sasuke, and the smell alone nearly made him drool, "I am looking to be remembered."

Sasuke liked this place, he decided, on his first taste of the light noodles, along with the rich, but not too rich broth.

Sasuke would be coming back to Ichiraku, he decided, on his fourth or so breath for air, about halfway through the bowl.

Naruto had already finished, chatting loudly with the Old Chef, whose name he still didn't know, about being able to answer a question in class, and how Iruka Sensei had been so proud of him.

A part of him wanted to remind Naruto that it was him who had given him the help he needed, but Sasuke viciously squashed that part of himself, and instead quietly listened to their conversation, interjecting only when directly addressed, as minutes turned to hours, and the sun set.

It was dark out when Naruto finally got out of his stool, thanked the Old man behind the counter, and left behind payment for both his and Sasuke's bowls. He wasn't even given the time to protest this, as he got pulled out of the small shop by Naruto.

Almost immediately, however, he heard someone call for them, and turned around to see the Owner of Ichiraku, holding a bowl of ramen in his hands. It was steaming, evidently brand new.

Naruto looked back over at him, but Sasuke waved him off, saying that he'd "Just be a second."

He already knew what was coming when the old man slowly handed him the full bowl of Ramen, it was something he'd been getting used to, recently, the sympathy of others. It was stifling, and embarrassing, and it angered him to no end.

This man _had_ made efforts to be understanding to him, however, so Sasuke would try and come to a compromise.

"I'm sorry, sir," Sasuke stated, as bluntly as possible, "But I don't like to accept gifts out of charity."

The older man seemed to slump a bit, he must have been expecting this, but thought that he still had to try.

That ate at Sasuke, just a little.

_Oh, fine. Just this once._

Sasuke held out his hand, filled with around 1000 yen.

"I'd like to pay for it, if that's fine."

The proprietor looked almost shocked, before his expression changed. he smiled at Sasuke, looking a bit proud.

"Alright," he held out his left hand, "That'll be 300 yen then."

Sasuke handed over the money and took the bowl of ramen. He mumbled a quiet "Thanks" as he rounded the corner towards his house, finally catching up with Naruto.

"What was that all about?" Naruto greeted him, before he saw what was in his hands, "Ah! He never lets me get anything after closing! That dirty old man!"

Sasuke can't suppress his smile, or the teasing voice that comes out after.

"Well, of course."

Naruto looked over, like Sasuke might give him the secret to obtaining late-night Ichiraku.

"I can do Shuriken Jutsu."

Naruto bristled, his hand shot out and pointed at him, and he screamed out into the night.

"What does that have to do with anything, you jerk!"

Sasuke couldn't help the small laugh that tumbled out of him. It wasn't quite full, just a mirth filled moment spent between… friends?

Were he and Naruto friends?

Sasuke wasn't sure.

He certainly didn't mind Naruto's company, and he had introduced him to Ichiraku, which certainly earned him some points. He smiled more around Naruto. He liked watching Naruto smile.

_We could certainly be friends, _Sasuke thought, _I'll just have to give it time. _

While Sasuke was thinking about this and that on his and Naruto's long journey, he barely avoided tripping over a fallen plank of wood, almost dropping his Ramen in the process. He'd nearly forgotten, what with the relaxing atmosphere of the cool evening air, but the Ichiraku owner had tried to trick him.

_The old man probably thought he was being slick, too,_ Sasuke thought.

But he had been paying attention while he'd been sitting at the counter. He'd had nothing to do whilst listening to Naruto's conversations with the Father and daughter duo other than to look at the menu, posted on the wall.

He'd taken note of one particularly interesting fact.

The ramen there was supposed to be 700 yen.

Sasuke sighed.

He was smiling soon after.

_It's a start. _

_\\-\_

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto! And I'm going to be Hokage!"

Several students sighed as the golden-haired boy repeated his mantra for what must have been the thousandth time. It had been something to make fun of at the start, a hilarious joke, and they didn't even have to come up with it, Naruto had given it to them for free.

But after a few months, and more than enough teasing to last several lifetimes, every member of the class was just ready for Naruto to stop saying it.

Surely he would, one of these days.

Sasuke had his doubts.

"Yes, Naruto," even Iruka Sensei, who normally tried his upmost to be kind and supportive, had been getting a little tired of it, "We've heard."

The young teacher turned to the rest of the class and began reciting something off of a clipboard. Naruto had just lost his training match against Shino Aburame, and Sasuke felt no one could blame him for that one, the boy had, after all, summoned a couple hundred bugs from within his own skin, and even then Naruto still had the gall to announce that he would defeat him.

It hadn't gone well, in Sasuke's opinion, but he couldn't help but admire the attempt.

On one hand, he thought that without an area of effect typed Jutsu like Sasuke's Fireball, Naruto never really stood a chance against such a swarm.

On the other hand, he couldn't _not_ tease Naruto about it, just a little.

"You've got bugs in your hair." Sasuke said, trying to keep his visage serious.

"Aaaah!" Predictably, Naruto immediately started jumping in place, scratching into his scalp. "Get them off me! Shino, get your crappy bugs off of me!"

Shino's eyes narrowed, or at least, Sasuke assumed they did, not that he could see past the black goggles on the other boy's face.

"My bugs are not crappy, nor are any of my beetles present on your person."

Naruto paused for a second.

"Speak Normally!"

Shino sighed dramatically, before replying.

"None of my very useful bugs are on you."

"But Sasuke said-"

Naruto turned around to look at him, and Sasuke tried desperately to keep it together, thought evidently, it wasn't going too well.

"Dang it, Sasuke!" Naruto was clearly annoyed, and he walked up next to him, arms crossed.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Sasuke tried not to laugh, even if he was vibrating slightly, "There were just some in your hair." He was restraining himself now, "You got them though, you definitely got them."

A small snicker broke through his defenses, and the makeshift walls he'd put up exploded as he laughed at Naruto's expense.

He failed to hold it together, ultimately, but Sasuke liked to think he'd put up a good fight.

"That's enough, you three," Iruka Sensei's commanding voice put a stop to any rebuttal Naruto may have had, but the boy did fix Sasuke with a particularly nasty pout. "Would anyone like to volunteer to fight next?"

"I'll do it!"

"You can't go twice in a row, Naruto."

"Aw…"

Despite himself, Sasuke reached out and patted the boy on the shoulder. He might have teased him, but their relationship had been getting better since the incident at the docks a few weeks prior, and he didn't like seeing Naruto down.

"Sorry about that, I was kidding." He whispered quietly to the boy beside him, trying to keep his voice down so that Iruka wouldn't hear them.

Naruto continued to pout at him for a few more seconds, but then, like the sun on a cloudy day, his smile shone back through.

"Eh, it's fine," The boy's expression became devious, and he narrowed his eyes, "Especially since I'm going to beat you later anyways."

Sasuke knew he was being baited, that much was obvious.

He had, however, never been very good at not rising to said baits, turning to look at Naruto with a devilish smirk.

"Oh ok," Sasuke turned back to the arena, where two girls, whose names he was sure he should've known, were fighting, "I'll ask you later how that went for you."

One of them, the girl with blonde hair, struck out at the other pink-haired girl. It wasn't an effective attack, given that it wasn't backed up by any form or style, and was easily dodged. It would have been a good opportunity for a counter, had he been in the arena, a fairly easy way to end the battle.

The other girl present, however, didn't seem to see that, as she returned with her own attack just as clumsily as the first had been delivered, and allowed the blonde to escape. The two went on like that for a while, until finally, the blonde-haired girl managed to down her opponent with a full body tackle.

"The winner is Ino." Iruka Sensei declared as he walked into the center of the ring, helping both girls to get to their feet. "Well done, the both of you." He gave them the same words he gave everyone after every fight, regardless of how well they'd done.

Sasuke didn't feel like these two deserved any praise for the performance they'd put on, but he wasn't going to say that out loud.

"Alright, this will be our second to last match, who would like to fight next?"

"Oo!" Naruto was jumping up and down on the spot. "Me! Me me me! Pick me Sensei!"

Iruka sighed, looking around the schoolyard.

"Would anyone else like to volunteer, seeing as how Naruto has already fought once today?"

No one raised their hands.

"Ugh, fine. Come on, Naruto."

"Yah!"

As Naruto made his way into the center of the ring, Sasuke's eyes instead turned to the blonde-haired girl who'd just fought, currently making her way across the schoolyard towards him.

What had Iruka Sensei said her name was again?

_Oh right, _Sasuke thought, _her name is Ino._

She'd been trying to get him to like her for a few months now.

He groaned internally, knowing there was no way this was going to be fun.

"Did you see that, Sasuke!?" she said with a rosy face, her hands at her hips. "That win was for you!"

Maybe, by being completely silent and not moving, Ino would think he'd disappeared.

"Sasuke?"

OK, so plan A was a bust.

He needed a new plan. What was the fastest way to get rid of her, without actually having to say or do anything stupid?

Tell her to get out of his face?

Well that would certainly work, and he was about half a second away from saying that when something odd happened. A tiny voice somewhere in his mind, that sounded vaguely like a certain loud-mouthed friend he had, told him that that would be _'mean'_.

He'd never really thought about it before, what with the intense revenge-plotting sessions he liked to hold during class, but the girls he dismissed always seemed to look a bit disappointed when he sent them away.

Another voice somewhere in Sasuke's mind, which sounded, annoying, a lot like himself, said that he shouldn't really care if he was being mean, he had more important things to think about than puppy crushes and schoolgirl dreams. Things like evil brothers, overly-obnoxious blonde's, and tomatoes.

Besides, what was he even supposed to do other than tell them to go away? Sasuke had never really diversified his profile beyond that.

_'Be nice!'_

Sasuke was a bit embarrassed to admit that he didn't have any real experience with that. Even before his family's deaths, he'd been at best an antisocial loner.

But, well…

_I'll try._

"Err… Thanks." The words sounded forced even to him, and as he brought his hand up and gave her what may have been the weakest thumbs up of all time, along with a smile that looked like he was standing on a paper bomb, he couldn't help wishing that he'd spontaneously combust. "I'm…"

_…_

What did he say now?

What the heck did he say now!?

"…Glad?"

Not that!

Well, it was over, not even this girl in front of him, who had managed to misconstrue him telling her to leave him alone about 400 times as him being shy, would ever fall for that.

"Eeeeeeee!"

Ino squealed at the top of her lungs, and the expression on her face was one Sasuke could only describe as pure joy. She immediately ran off towards her circle of friends and began loudly retelling the events that had just transpired, though from what he could make out, Sasuke had the suspicion that it may have been slightly exaggerated.

_Honestly, _Sasuke thought, _I should've just told her to leave me alone again._

He wasn't really sure why he hadn't, other than that annoying voice in his head told him he shouldn't, which in hindsight seemed like a dumb reason.

_Still_, Sasuke noted,_ that felt strangely… good._

He also felt like he needed to sleep, though given that it was 10 in the morning, and he had only just woken up a few hours ago, he felt the chances of that were rather low.

Idly, he noticed that the pink-haired girl Ino had been fighting in the mock duel was in that group as well, though she seemed to hang back a little further than the rest.

_What was her name again? Sakura or something?_

That sounded vaguely correct.

Sakura turned towards him, and he immediately looked away, hoping beyond all hope she hadn't noticed him staring. The last thing he wanted was her misinterpreting that as his undying love or something. A few seconds later, he checked to see if she'd gone back to talking with her friends.

Oh gods, she was walking over to him.

"Um…" The pink-haired girl mumbled the second she walked up to him, "I'm sorry, Sasuke."

He couldn't imagine what she'd be sorry about, unless it was for constantly bothering him during class, in which case he would be glad to accept her apology, and then to have her get away from him as fast as-

"I was trying to win that one for you, as well, but I… I really blew it."

Sakura had tears in her eyes, and instantly Sasuke felt terrible.

She was clearly trying quite hard to avoid crying, her hands balled into tiny fists, and her lip quivering. The tears in her eyes didn't fall, but they were growing larger, threatening to spill over.

He wanted to make them go away, altogether.

Unfortunately, he still wasn't very good at this whole being nice to people thing.

But he would try again, because he knew Naruto would have.

"Um, Sakura?"

The girl looked surprised when her eyes met his, and Sasuke fidgeted under the attention. He wouldn't let it get to him, though, he had to say something to help her right now.

"I…" _Great start, _"Your fight was…" _Bad, it was bad, _"really good, I thought you did..." _Aaaand stick the landing, _"…Well?"

Somewhere, off in the distance, Sasuke thought he could hear his pride let out an otherworldly screech as it died a painful death.

He looked at Sakura, trying to inspect the damage he'd caused with his uplifting, genius speech, and found her staring at him, slack-jawed.

OK, so maybe he could salvage this, now all he had to do was make his escape when she ran back to her friends, and then commit ritual suicide when he arrived home. Perhaps his honor would recover then.

Strange though, he'd really expected Sakura to have said something by now, even if said thing was professing her love for him, which would have annoyed him to no end.

He looked back to her, and saw that she hadn't moved an inch, nor had her expression changed.

"Sakura?"

"Hey, Sasuke!" Naruto came jumping up beside them, kicking up a cloud of dirt. "Did you see my fight? I won!"

_Wait, seriously? Naruto never wins._

"Yeah, of course you won, Naruto," Now Ino had walked back over, though Sasuke noticed that she still had a hint of her earlier joyous expression on her face, "You were fighting Hinata."

_Oh, that explains that._

"So?" Naruto crossed his arms, seemingly offended. "A win's a win."

"Naruto, your only wins are against Hinata and Shikamaru." Ino put her hands together in front of her face, like she was trying to explain a math problem to an infant. "Hinata never fights you seriously, and Shikamaru _literally _concedes the second the match starts!"

"Err… that's-"

"By the way," Ino turned away from Naruto, ignoring the boy's attempt at a rebuttal entirely, and towards Sasuke and Sakura, "You've been surprisingly quiet, Sakura, what's up with you?"

The girl in question continued to stare blankly into the middle distance, and at this point Sasuke was becoming a little concerned.

Ino walked to stand beside Sakura and waved her hand above the girl's eyes a few times, before she snickered, and turned towards their teacher.

"Sensei! Sakura fainted!"

"She did _what!?_"

\\-\

As Sasuke laid down in his bed that night, he couldn't help the small smile on his face.

It had been an exhausting day, fraught with girls, embarrassment, and, to his horror, social interaction. Still, it had also been a day where he'd stepped out of his comfort zone, tried something new, and had it work out for him.

_How the hell does Naruto do it?_ Sasuke couldn't help but ask, as he felt his eyelids growing heavy already. _I talked to a couple of people and I felt like my head was going to explode, yet all he does is scream out and draw attention to himself. _

All day, every day, without end.

Honestly, Sasuke thought he would rather die.

Still though, things were going better lately. He'd managed to talk to a few kids in his class without pushing them all away from him, and they seemed to be… kind of all right, all things considered.

He smiled lightly, content to think about this some more in the morning, he shut his eyes.

_'Foolish little brother, if you wish to kill me, then hate me, detest me, curse me, and survive in an unsightly way. Run, Run, and cling to your pitiful life._'

Suddenly, any and all happy thoughts were snatched violently from his mind, and all that remained were his brother's words.

Oh, he hated him all right, detested him, and cursed him every night since then, all just to grow strong enough to kill him. Honestly, he'd only stopped thinking about Itachi-

_Wait, _Sasuke thought, _what was it that made me stop thinking about him?_

The answer came to him a second later, he had barely had time to think about it at all.

_Naruto._

That boy, no matter how strange he was, nor how loud he yelled, or however many times he shouted out that he would become Hokage, had undoubtedly brightened up his last few weeks.

Even just now, thinking about him led to thoughts of his brother being pushed away, back to the darkest recesses of his mind, which, until recently, had been festering, growing larger and larger, threatening to consume him whole.

Being friends with Naruto, laughing with him and teasing him, being kind to everyone in his class, maybe even getting to know more of them, he'd only just gotten to try all of it, and for the first time in a few months, he finally felt like he could smile again.

But all of that was holding back his desire for revenge.

And Sasuke didn't know how to feel about that.

Sure, they were all nice things, talking and laughing with everyone else like he was some normal kid, who would be given the chance to live a normal life. But Sasuke Uchiha was not a normal child, he was an avenger, chosen by the murderer of their clan to be a deliverer of justice. He had no time to worry about the gossip of his peers, or what kind of clothing was considered stylish, or what funny thing Naruto would say next that would light up his entire day.

Even if that was all he wanted to do.

A knock on his door kicked him out of his own head, and nearly spiraling onto the floor, though Sasuke did manage to recover before he fell out of his bed.

Who would be coming by at this hour?

Actually, he was fairly sure he already knew, and he did his best to fake a tired sigh as he made his way over to the door.

He felt it would've been more convincing had he not been grinning from ear to ear.

"Naruto, do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Uhm," The boy standing just beyond his doorway looked at him in mild confusion, before he looked at the clock that was hanging on Sasuke's wall and seemed to grow even more bewildered. "about… Six o'clock… in the evening?"

Alright, so apparently social interaction had indeed taken all of his energy for the day.

"I was just going to ask if you wanted to go to Ichiraku," Naruto rubbed the back of his head a bit sheepishly, "But if you were…" he looked straight at Sasuke and squinted, like he was inspecting some weird bug he'd found, "Sleeping, or something, then that's fine."

Honestly, that sounded like a fun night, and a nice way to spend some time with Naruto, whilst still being able to relax and unwind.

He took one step forward, and felt an invisible, intangible hand grasp onto his shoulder.

It was trying desperately to pull him back into his dark room. It was bony and cold, like a dead body that had started to decay.

It promised revenge, Itachi's death, assuredly. It promised a world where the Uchiha could have their name restored, and one in which their slaughter would be avenged.

It promised him loneliness, sadness, and solitude.

He felt that, if Naruto hadn't fallen down that hill those weeks ago, then the choice probably would've been an easy one to make. He'd have taken the path that led straight to his revenge, the darker path, where he never felt anything other than his desire to kill Itachi.

But now?

He saw a different hand in front of him, one real, and waiting for him, completely sure that Sasuke would reach out with his own to take it.

Honestly, to put that much blind faith into him, whoever was offering their hand was clearly a complete fool.

Yes, definitely. A fool, through and through. A loud-mouthed, obnoxious, hopelessly overconfident fool.

A fool he was glad to be able to call his friend.

He didn't hesitate, he extended his own hand, and Naruto's face exploded into that sun-like expression as their hands met.

As he took the final step out of his door, he felt the hand on his shoulder slip off of him, and slink back away into the darkness.

It promised him that it would always stay with him, waiting to see if he'd ever choose to join their hands together. Until then, it would wait, for him to come crawling back.

Sasuke smiled as he closed the door and twisted his key to lock it. He turned back towards Naruto and followed him.

_Thank you for everything. _Sasuke thought, his head clearer than it had been in months,

_But I won't be needing you. _

**End Chapter 2**

* * *

**Hey, an Author's Note, look at that.**

**Like I said, this chapter came out so fast because I had most of it written, but I hope to have chapter 3 (which I have yet to start) out in about a week. I'd like to stick to a weekly schedule, or at least close to that. I imagine chapters will stay at about this length, unless I get caught up with something.**

**I've actually gone into my old documents and found some of my old Naruto fanfics, and was shocked to find that they were actually kind of OK, so I may edit those a bit, and then release them as One-shots for now, and then, once I finish this story, I'll update them normally.**

**We'll see though. **

**Next chapter will be the final main characters chapter, before we get into the actual manga story of Naruto. **

**Anyways, if you've made it this far, thanks for reading my story! I always appreciate a review, even if it's literally "Hey, this sucked."**

**(I'm kidding, please don't leave that.)**


	3. Chapter 3 - Sakura

**Yo.**

**So, previously I had a note here stating that this wouldn't be a Sakura exclusive chapter.**

**Unfortunately for past me, this _is_ a Sakura only chapter, because I ended up liking the crap out of it.**

**Basically, I was about to write new stuff, when I decided to go back and touch on some of the other ideas I had for this chapter, and ended up writing like 2000 words in one sitting.  
**

**Anyways, without further ado, enjoy.**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Admitting One's Dreams**

* * *

Not for the first time that night, Sakura let out a pained whine.

Ino, her best and really only friend, decided that this was apparently hilarious, despite Sakura fixing the girl a glare that she was fairly sure would have killed anyone else.

"Honestly, Sakura," Her friend set down her bowl of ramen, her eyes dancing with barely concealed mirth. "There isn't much you can do about it now." She slurped up a few noodles, taking a moment to savor them, before she continued. "Besides, I'm not even sure what you're that worried about."

Ino, despite her constant teasing, had been doing her best to help her not think too much about what had happened with Sasuke earlier today, but…

"Ino, I _actually_ fainted in front of him."

Her friend winced.

"Oh, yeah, right."

Sakura once again felt herself whining unconsciously, her head falling into her hands. Her ramen lay in front of her, though she had barely eaten any of it, so distressed was she.

"C'mon, Sakura," Her friend placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to ignore the groan Sakura let out. "Cheer up."

That seemed like extremely helpful advice, and immediately she knew that Ino would one day become a licensed psychiatrist.

"Is everything alright, you two?" She heard the ramen chef beyond the counter ask them.

"Oh, she's fine, just guy troubles."

_Oh no, that's cool, Ino, _Sakura thought, _just tell everyone why don't you._

Sakura made a mental note to get back at her friend for that one later.

Sighing with the entire weight of her 9 years, she looked around the small, rickety shop they inhabited, and couldn't help but ask "Why are we here, again, exactly?"

"Because it was close," Ino began, finishing off her bowl of ramen with a small slurp. "And because I, personally, am a big fan."

"Isn't this like, Naruto's favorite spot?"

The old man in the back stiffened slightly, perhaps mildly interested in their conversation.

"I don't know, I've never asked him."

_Ah, that makes sense._

"I pass by on my way home some days, and Naruto's here more often than not."

"Are you all Naruto's friends?" It was the shop owner, walking over to the counter and smiling down at them.

He looked pleased at the idea, and Sakura couldn't help but cringe slightly, knowing the news he'd receive wouldn't be what he'd hoped.

"Eheh, not exactly."

The man's cheer didn't disappear, but he did seem far more sedated than he had before. He picked up Ino's bowl, now empty, and started to wash it under one of the sinks.

"Ah, that's a shame." The man seemed genuinely disappointed but looked towards them again as he placed Ino's bowl into the sink. "He's a good kid, though, you should talk to him some time!"

"Yeah, we're not really in…" Ino seemed to struggle to find the right words, and Sakura felt some slight amusement when her friend turned towards her, with a pleading expression on her face, asking her non-verbally for assistance.

Sakura's entire world lit up, she hadn't expected her chance to come so soon, and with a slightly vicious glee, she feigned confusion.

"What's wrong, Ino? Weren't you going to say something?"

Her friend stared at her, betrayed, and then back to the proprietor, who now looked to be waiting on an answer from the blonde-haired girl.

_Maybe that'll teach you not to make fun of me for 5 hours and think I'll just let it go._

Ino looked directly into her eyes, gazed into the blackest depths of her soul, mouthed 'I'll get you for this', and started talking.

"Well, Naruto's not the… nicest kid in our class," Ino seemed to shrink in on herself as she said it, likely because of the not so kind look the older shop owner now gave her. "So, no one really wants to be his friend."

The proprietor sighed wearily, and then spoke softly.

"I won't pretend to know everything there is to know, miss, but…" He looked downtrodden, and when he continued, it was with a far quieter voice than before. "I believe Naruto is overcompensating for something with his actions."

"What do you mean?"

Sakura was almost surprised to find that it was her who spoke, but upon thinking further about it, she wasn't surprised at all. It was obvious that she would want to find out more about the boy.

_After all, _Sakura thought, _He's the reason Sasuke's been acting so weird._

Not weird, as in bad, but weird, as in 'this person has up until now never once behaved like this.'

Sasuke had _actually_ told her that he thought she fought 'well'.

She hadn't just fainted from a compliment from her crush (OK, so it was mostly that), she'd also been shocked he'd say such a thing!

Honestly, when Ino had come over and loudly told them all about how Sasuke had been 'glad' about her fight, very few of them had actually believed her. How could they, after all, the boy had done nothing but rebuke them for nearly 4 months. For him to so suddenly be willing to hear from them, heck, not just willing, but to actively encourage them?

Clearly, the ninja world had gone mad.

"I think," The ramen chef started, breaking her out of her own head.

_Oh, right, _Sakura thought, _I asked a question._

"That Naruto masks how he feels with shouted words and feigned aggression."

"Well, yeah," It was Ino this time, interjecting into what the man was saying. "We all know that, we're not stupid."

"But really, deep down," Whether the man had ignored Ino entirely, or just chose to continue what he'd been saying despite her, Sakura couldn't tell, but it still made her laugh when the girl beside her bristled in annoyance. "I just think he used to be really lonely."

"Used to be?"

The old man turned towards her once more, the smile on his now returning.

"He's been doing better lately; I think making friends with Mr. Sasuke has been very good for him."

Hearing one of her classmates called a Mr. briefly threw Sakura off her rhythm, but her friend Ino had no such problems.

"Yeah, what's up with that, exactly? They like, hated each other not 3 weeks ago, and now they're all buddy buddy."

"It is kind of weird." Sakura admitted with an apologetic look to the shopkeeper, trying to keep her friend's poorly chosen words from offending him. He didn't seem offended at all, and instead responded.

"Ah, Naruto actually told me the story behind that."

Now that had her curious, and she turned to see Ino feeling much the same.

"Oh, but it wouldn't do for me to tell it without his permission," The old man pulled himself away from the table, smiling wryly. "I suppose you'd just have to ask Naruto yourselves."

Ugh, and they'd come this close to solving the mystery.

She'd have to ask Naruto about it later, which didn't sound as terrible as it would've a few weeks back. He hadn't mellowed out, per se, he'd just been in a better mood.

"Ask me what?"

_Or maybe, _Sakura thought, as she turned around to see the young Uzumaki stood before her, _I'll ask him now._

And Sasuke was here.

Oh.

_Ok, don't panic. This is fine._

_I'm fine._

Sasuke took a look around, turned towards her, and gave her a small nod.

_Critical systems: failing. Sakura shutting down in-_

"Oh, come on, Sakura," Ino pulled her mind back to reality, her hand also pulling Sakura back onto her stool. "He literally nodded at you."

How could she not understand that this was the second-best thing to ever happen to her?

"Oh, hey Sakura," Naruto waved a hand at the two of them, a residual smile still on his face from when he'd greeted the Ichiraku duo. "Hey Ino."

Sasuke now gave Ino a nod, and somehow the girl not only managed to _avoid _fainting, but also waved back and smiled daintily.

Life was truly unfair.

\\-\

"So," Ino began, after Naruto finished recounting the start of his and Sasuke's unlikely friendship. "You fell down a hill, and then just… decided to be friends?"

Naruto put a hand on his chin, squinted, and seemed to be in deep thought, before he unwound instantly, smiling in a bit of a dumb way.

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Why did I expect anything else?"

"What?"

"Nothing." Ino sighed.

They sat in an uncomfortable silence as the two boys polished off the last of their ramen, it was a bit of an odd thing, but Sakura noticed that Sasuke seemed to have the same enthusiasm for it as Naruto.

Honestly, Sakura had no idea what to do or say about the boy. Though he'd always been crass, loud, and obnoxious, she felt she had overreacted at times when talking to him, going so far as to bully him along with some of the other students. She'd wanted to fit in, after all, and if it was what everyone else was doing?

She'd done whatever she could to make friends, even if it was pushing others down.

By the time her morals caught up to her, she was left in no position to talk to him, and with no friends other than Ino to her name.

Oh sure, they included her, let her hang out with them, but that was only because Ino made them. Sakura wasn't stupid, despite what some may say, she could read between the lines of their less than subtle glares, or their talking behind her back.

The weeks since Naruto's and Sasuke's friendship had been weird, though. Some of the girls who only really like Sasuke for his mysterious and bad-boy attitude had lost interest, and it was really only her, Ino, and 2 or 3 other girls who still held their crushes.

It had also, incidentally, helped her see a different side of Naruto. He could be just as supportive to Sasuke as Ino had been to her, often trying to bring the boy out of his shell. He challenged him to spars most days, and even volunteered him (unwillingly) to spar against others, always cheering for him when he fought, even if the boy didn't need it.

Before, she wouldn't have dared apologize to Naruto, even if she'd felt bad. She was convinced he would have just blown up in her face or played some mean prank on her.

Now though? Now she was determined to work up the courage to talk to him, to apologize, maybe even make a friend.

"So, Sasuke," It was Ino, and Sakura mentally thanked her friend for trying to start up a conversation, being more outgoing than she'd ever be. "What did you think about Sakura fainting earlier?"

_I take back my thanks, _Sakura thought, nearly growling, _I'll have my vengeance, Ino._

"Err, Uhm…" Sasuke seemed unable to think of anything to say, instead looking towards Naruto, who gave the boy a small shrug, as if to say, 'I've got nothing.'

"It was… fine?"

Ino sighed, seemingly disappointed, and Sakura couldn't hide the vicious smirk she shot at her friend. Ino caught it, returning it with narrowed eyes and a small 'humph'.

_I should apologize to Naruto._

Yes, that was all well and good, but the problem was she and Naruto were on opposite ends of the table, with Ino and Sasuke between them, which made having a heartfelt discussion about past mistakes a little difficult.

There was an empty chair beside Naruto though, it wouldn't be too hard to walk over and start talking, even if it would draw attention to her.

She sighed, working up the courage.

_I owe it to him._

She stood up without warning, and though Ino asked where she was going as she passed behind them, the girl stopped altogether when she sat down next to Naruto.

"Uhm, Hey Sakura." He waved his hand awkwardly.

"Hey, Naruto."

She wasn't quite sure how to start this long-needed talk, even if she knew what she wanted to say. It was, frankly, a bit humiliating to have to come out and admit your faults, and even if she knew she'd feel better for doing it, it didn't make starting the conversation any easier.

_Well, best start simple._

"I felt… like I needed to talk to you about some things." She begun, trying to keep any traces of nervousness out of her voice, though she didn't have too much success.

"Hey, Sasuke," Ino's voice shook her out of her thoughts, and she turned her head to look at her friend. "There's this really cool flower stall a few buildings down; would you come look at it with me?"

Sasuke seemed to get the hint, for he rose without any fuss and walked out next to Ino. Normally Sakura would've been upset with her for having asked her crush out on a date, and so suddenly at that!

At the moment, she could only feel grateful.

_I'll hold off on my vengeance, I suppose._

"Man, she works fast." Naruto spoke up, his eyes wide.

Sakura had wanted to keep this conversation completely professional, but she couldn't quite hold in her laugh at that one, giggling quietly to herself next to the boy. She was surprised at how comfortable it felt to sit next to him, and she passed a minute or so just reorganizing her thoughts.

When she felt confident enough to come out with them, she spoke.

"Naruto, I wanted to apologize to you."

The boy looked at her, a bit stunned, and she waited as he swallowed down the noodles in his mouth so he could speak.

"I mean, thanks, but why?"

_What?_

"Did you… did you not notice how mean I was to you?" She was a bit surprised, she figured he wouldn't ever be able to forgive her for how she'd acted.

"Not really," His words shocked her, but he continued. "I mean, you were always kinda' mean, but no more than anyone else." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I got used to all that stuff a while back, so it's no big deal."

No more than anyone else? He got used to it?

How could someone get used to something like that? Ino's friends barely excluded her, and even then she felt like an outsider, undesirable. The only thing that held her together was Ino, but without her, Sakura wasn't sure where she would've been.

But to have no one, and to get used to not just that pain, but to have people constantly pushing you around, complaining about you, bullying you?

They made sense, suddenly, the shopkeepers' words.

_'Naruto masks how he feels with shouted words and feigned aggression.'_

_'But really, deep down, I think he just used to be really lonely.'_

It hurt to think that she'd contributed to that. That she'd done so willingly, purposefully, and maliciously.

She'd make up for it. She had to.

"I've always been very rude to you, even if you never really noticed I was." She began where she felt she should, a straightforward confession of what she felt she'd done wrong. "I found myself with no friends and wanting them. Making fun of you, joining them in that, seemed to be the easiest route to gaining them."

Once again, Naruto seemed to be a bit stunned at her words. He looked away a second later and fiddled with his hands like he didn't quite know what to do with them. In the kitchens beyond them, the two chefs of Ichiraku were making themselves as scarce as possible, and she made a mental note to tip them for it later.

"And you didn't deserve any of that. Not the ridicule, or the yelling, or the laughing."

She turned to face him fully, but he wasn't looking at her.

"And you don't deserve what the people here do to you either."

Now he turned towards her, eyes wide, and expression a bit fearful.

"How do you know about that?"

She smiled sadly, unable to meet his eyes out of shame.

"I pass by here on my way home every day, I…" She could barely get the words out, but she wouldn't run away, not when she'd come this far. "I've seen what they do to you. And everyday I'd just… let it happen."

Naruto looked distressed, his hands still fidgeting around on his lap. He opened his mouth to comment, but whatever it was died on his tongue as he tried to vocalize it.

"I used to think that you deserved it." She felt hot and disgusting, she felt like she was a mess, like she wanted to curl up into a ball and shrink until she didn't exist anymore, but she kept going. "I thought that because you were loud, or you annoyed me, or that my friends didn't like you, that you deserved to get drinks poured on you, or yelled at in the street, or smacked by shop-owners."

Her face felt hot, and she realized with some surprise that she was crying.

"I treated you like… like some monster." The tears weren't subtle, and her voice was shaking. _She_ felt like a monster, now. Faced with the weight of what she'd done, all she could do was try not to cry.

"I'm sorry, Naruto." She wiped at her eyes, trying to keep more tears from falling. "I'm so sorry."

She couldn't see the boy in front of her, not through the tears that continued to well up, but she felt it as he reached forward and took one of her hands in his. She gasped slightly, opening her watery eyes to look towards him.

He was pointedly avoiding meeting her eyes, instead turning his head to look towards the counter as he held her hand in his.

_It's warm._

"I'm… not very good at this." He spoke quietly, gentler than she had ever heard him. "I'm sorry."

_Why? Why are you apologizing?_

It wasn't fair that someone like him, someone so warm and nice, had been treated like trash, ground into the dirt with such extreme prejudice.

He squeezed her hand, and looked towards her, doing his best to give her that same smile she saw him wear day in and day out.

It was hollow, so very empty.

Maybe it had always been.

"Thank you, Sakura."

Something within her broke at that, and a choked sob escaped her. She had tried her best not to cry, not to embarrass herself. She'd wanted to apologize in a way that left everything settled, left her with no baggage and a new friend.

She'd failed at all of it.

Another cry wracked her small form, and she allowed the tears to flow freely, the dam inside her having burst open. She sobbed loudly, turning towards the counter, and resting her head on her left arm.

Naruto's hand never left her right, though. Even as the minutes passed them by, and the sun behind them fell from the sky…

He didn't let go.

\\-\

It wasn't for a while that Sakura spoke again.

"Hey, Naruto?"

He looked back towards her, having released her hand only when she'd told him she was feeling better.

"Yeah?"

She gave him as full a smile as she could manage, but it had probably still come out a bit watery.

"Thank you. Really."

Naruto blushed, and he smiled embarrassedly.

"Don't worry about it, I was just… trying to be a good friend."

_A good friend, huh?_

Something about how the whole scenario had played out had her snickering slightly, and then, like a rushing torrent, she was giggling madly.

"W-what?" Naruto looked surprised, even if he was subconsciously smiling already. "What's so funny?"

She couldn't answer, even if she wished she could, she was laughing far too hard to focus on anything at all, really.

It was freeing, after she'd cried harder than she ever had in her life, now she was laughing wildly, completely out of control.

"N-nothing," she barely choked out past her fits of giggles. "Just… friends, huh?"

Naruto seemed confused.

"Well, yeah," He scratched his chin. "I mean, after all that, we've gotta be friends, right?"

And once again she found him able to crack her up at the slightest provocation.

"H-how could I argue," She brought herself back under control. "Against such infallible logic?"

Naruto seemed to think for a second.

"What's that word mean?"

"Hm? Infallible?"

"Yeah, that one."

"Uhm, it means like… unbeatable… the best?"

She didn't feel like she'd done a very good job at explaining it, she'd just heard her mother and father use that phrase whenever she would argue about something with them.

"Oh!" He nodded twice, seeming proud of himself. "So, it's like the Hokage of words!"

She felt she could be forgiven for laughing that time.

\\-\

They caught up with Sasuke and Ino a while later, having talked as long as they could before Ichiraku closed for the night. It had been an oddly fulfilling experience, talking with Naruto. She'd let out her own demons, and finally felt that burden lift off of her.

And yet, on its own, talking with Naruto had been… fun.

"You should've seen him," Ino was giggling to herself, her hands holding a small bouquet of flowers. "The shop owner was all "Oh, good sir, would you like to buy anything for your girlfriend today."" She had her hands on her hips and was trying her best to give off a gruff, adult voice. "And Sasuke got all confused, so he just went along with whatever the guy was saying."

"You didn't try to stop him?" Sakura spoke accusingly, but even she couldn't hide the fact that she was a tad bit amused.

"Why would I? After all," She held up the flowers in her hands to Sakura, and to her surprise they smelled heavenly. "I got such a nice bouquet out of it!"

The boy in question was stood next to Ino with a massive blush on his face, though it was clearly not from any schoolyard crush, but more the embarrassment of not knowing how to handle a social situation.

"Oh, Naruto, that reminds me!" Her friend walked away from Sasuke, and now walked beside the boy in question, both of their smiles reminding Sakura of a sunny summer day.

She wasn't sure if Ino really was that perceptive, or if she had just gotten lucky, but she had meant to drop back and talk to the black-haired boy, anyways, and felt there wouldn't be a better opportunity than now to do so.

She walked over to Sasuke and smiled up at him, though this didn't seem to calm the boy's nerves, perhaps he thought she'd start to tease him as well.

"Thank you for letting me and Naruto talk, I appreciate it."

The boy didn't say anything, but some of the blush did disappear from his face, and he nodded towards her. Oddly, she didn't faint, or even think about fainting, which Sakura thought was a fairly large improvement for only a few hours.

"I was just trying to be a good friend." Sasuke spoke quietly, trying to keep his voice down so that Ino and Naruto, who were now conversing loudly in front of the two of them, wouldn't hear.

She laughed quietly, a small sound that escaped her involuntarily.

"Y'know, you and Naruto really are very alike." She said it absentmindedly, gazing at the back of the blonde boy's head as he went on and on about something with Ino.

"What?" Sasuke looked confused, and Sakura couldn't help but laugh at the boy's expense, watching as his face puckered up into a pout.

"Nothing, nothing."

"Like I said," It was Naruto's voice, echoing back towards the two of them. "I'm going to be the Hokage!"

She wasn't deaf, she'd heard his rambling about becoming Hokage a few thousand times already, as had everyone else in their class. The boy never ceased to shout it out after he lost, or on the rare occasion that he'd win, and it never failed to get a mean-spirited laugh out of a few of her 'friends.'

But now that she'd seen him, truly seen him, and talked with him for the first time, she felt like the boy's words weren't nearly so funny anymore.

_Hokage, huh?_

_I could see that._

Despite herself, Sakura found herself smiling brightly, linking her hands behind her, and closing her eyes. She took in the evening air, it was chilly, refreshingly so.

The four of them were walking beside the river that snaked through Konoha, and though there was no sunlight to reflect off the water, the very beginnings of moonlight did faintly echo on it.

"Hey, Sasuke?"

The boy seemed confused that she'd address him at all, and he turned with an inquisitive look on his face.

"Yes?"

"What's your dream?"

The boy stiffened slightly, and for a moment he slowed down, letting her gain a few paces on him, before he caught back up to her, expression unreadable.

"I… Don't know." He talked slowly, methodically, thinking about every word. "I'm assuming you've heard about the Uchiha?"

Her parents had told her a few days after it happened, that Sasuke's entire family had been killed by ninja, and that was why the boy hadn't come in to school in a few days. They had also told her to try and be as kind as she could to the boy.

She'd taken that and done her best, but looking back, cheering for him in spars, constantly bothering him with her questions during class, those kinds of things probably hadn't helped him. She felt she couldn't be blamed, though, she'd been trying her best to make the boy feel better.

"Yeah, I heard."

"My dream, or… I guess my goal," He paused a moment, putting his hands in his pockets, looking a lot more like the dark and brooding Sasuke she'd seen a few weeks ago. "Is to avenge my clan… and carry on their name."

To be an avenger? That sounded about right. A lot of what Sasuke had done these past few months started to make sense, came into clearer focus.

"Or at least… that's what I thought I wanted."

Now it was her turn to be surprised, and she looked up towards him.

"Did something change your mind?"

Sasuke didn't seem to know what to say to that, for he contemplated his answer for a few seconds.

"No, it didn't change my mind, nor my goal." He looked towards the two kids walking ahead of them, both of them blonde and loud, but she had a feeling which one he was truly watching. "He just… showed me a different path."

Sakura smiled softly, letting the next few minutes carry on in silence.

_That sounds like something he'd do._

"What about you?" Sasuke spoke up a few minutes later, looking towards her with a curious expression on his face.

"What? My dream?"

"Yeah," Sasuke gave her a small smile, and she felt butterfly's dance in her stomach. "Since I told you mine, after all."

She gave a small breath of laughter and thought about what she wanted to say.

"It's not quite as grand as either of yours." She admitted with a small amount of sheepishness, unable to quite meet his eyes.

"That's fine." The boy chuckled, seeming more comfortable than she'd ever seen him.

_Oh, just say it, you big baby._

"I guess… I'd like to be a really strong ninja." She began, smiling softly as she gazed up at the night sky. The stars were out in full bloom, twinkling in the endless expanse. They seemed so terribly far away.

"I'd like to be respected, and to help a lot of people." She spoke honestly, trying to divulge her true feelings. "And then…"

"Yes?"

Her cheeks heated up, and she felt a bit embarrassed.

"I'd like to retire and be a mom, I guess."

It wasn't something she made known, and honestly, it didn't feel like anyone could blame her for that! It was horrifying to come out and say it!

Sasuke smiled widely, and she shrunk in on herself a bit.

"That sounds like a great dream."

It wasn't just embarrassment that had her cheeks heating up now, and she shuffled from side to side with nerves.

The boy beside her looked in front of them, to the blonde's a fair distance away from, not stopping for a moment, too lost in their own conversation.

"C'mon, we should catch up before they lose us." Sasuke nodded his head towards the two, and then made to take off running.

"Wait!"

He stopped a second later though, at her request.

"What is it?"

Sakura gazed up at the sky again, towards the stars that hung there, small lights suspended in perpetual darkness.

They didn't seem to be quite so far away, now.

She looked towards her friends, all three of them, and smiled brighter than she ever had before.

"Thank you."

**End Chapter 3**

* * *

**Man, this chapter was super fun for me, it's definitely my favorite of the three I've written so far.  
**

**I'm not sure how people will react to this chapter, I know Sakura can be a fairly divisive character, but I'd like to think my portrayal of her will do a good enough job assuaging fears for the future.**

**Next chapter is the official start of the Canon of Naruto, so we'll be getting into shadow clones, teams, and bell tests. Next chapter also won't have an assigned POV like these first 3 have had, so hopefully that goes well.**

****I'd like to keep the weekly schedule going, but it is the end of the semester, so I may be busy.****

**Still, expect a chapter next Wednesday, and then flood my inbox if I don't upload one.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Alright, Chapter 4. **

**Not sure if anyone actually reads these or not, so I'll keep it brief. **

**This chapter does contain the time-skip to the start of the manga, so we're entering canon territory here. It's very exciting for me, especially since this is my first fanfiction.**

**Alright, Without further ado, let's get into the meat of this story!**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Half-Baked Schemes and Brand New Teams**

* * *

_**3 Years Later**_

In the Hokage's office, smoking a pipe and doing his best to unwind after a long and painful day of signing papers, Hiruzen Sarutobi sat silently.

Although the day itself hadn't been amazing, and his back hurt like nobody's business, he couldn't help but smile as he basked in the evening air. He'd always loved night's like this one. No Anbu appearing to yell news at him, no troubles to worry about in the village, and no advisor's hounding him about what to do with the Jinchuuriki.

Life was good.

It was, perhaps, too quiet. It should have been the first sign that something was about to go horribly wrong.

An Anbu appeared in front of him, and Hiruzen mentally prayed that whatever was going on, he had no need to become involved.

"Sir, there's trouble in the village!"

OK, sure, that wasn't good for his evening's chances, but at least he could hope that Naruto wasn't-

"It's Naruto, he's stolen the Scroll of Sealings, sir! What's worse, he had help!"

Hiruzen took one last draw of his pipe, before, with a worldly sigh, he looked towards the Anbu in front of him.

"And who would that be, exactly?"

\\-\

"OK, so we've got the scroll, now what?"

Naruto understood his friend's haste; they probably wouldn't have very long before the Hokage's guards noticed they'd taken it.

"Now," Naruto licked his lips, and unfurled the monstrous parchment before him, revealing symbols and descriptions of powerful techniques. "I get to learn some killer new Jutsu!"

Sasuke's hand fell onto his left shoulder.

"Naruto." His friend seemed calm, and to an outsider, Naruto imagined he would have come off as just that. Naruto could tell though, having hung out with Sasuke for over 3 years, that the boy was not amused.

"Ehehe," He swallowed nervously, trying to maintain eye-contact. "Yeah, Sasuke?"

The hand on his shoulder tightened.

"You told me that, what was it? Oh yes." Sasuke smiled, and Naruto didn't think there had ever been something so terrifying in all the world. "'Someone's after the scroll of seals! We have to go take it before they can get their grubby hands on it!"'

Honestly, who's fault was it that Sasuke had believed **that**?

They'd stolen the scroll easily enough, which should've been the tip off for Naruto that something was probably up, and were able to sneak into the forests just beyond Konoha without much problem. The real issue he was running into was that the Third Hokage could be crazily psychic sometimes and often caught Naruto even when he didn't leave a trail for his pranks.

Still though, if he could keep Sasuke believing his lie for a little while longer, they could probably have the scroll back before anyone caught them, and thusly be able to deny it was them.

It was a perfect plan.

Or it would have been, if he had a clue what any of these Jutsu were meant to do.

There were roughly 10 Jutsu in the scroll, one which caught his eye immediately was the Shadow Clone Jutsu. He had, to his and Sasuke's confusion, never been able to use the clone jutsu, despite his best efforts.

But the others?

Ultimate Death Jutsu, a Yang-type release (And what the hell was _that_ anyways!?) that allowed the user to concentrate their chakra into a deadly wave in front of them?

That sounded cool if you had like, a million chakra.

Naruto was pretty sure he had 500, at best.

Somewhere within him, _something_ laughed.

_That was weird._

And hey! this Jutsu was just another form of Ultimate Death, but this one was more focused on a single target!?

Why was this even sealed away, anyways, it seemed like the kind of thing a powerful ninja could use, but why bother locking it up? Was every strong jutsu sealed away?

Honestly this whole thing was giving him a headache.

He was just about to try and make the hand-signs for the shadow clone, when a set of shuriken hit directly next to his leg, sinking into the dirt beside him.

He felt most people would've been scared knowing they could've been killed mere moments ago, they probably wouldn't have looked to their friend and whispered "See, someone was trying to take it!"

"Oh, you had no clue!" The other boy whispered back

"I'll thank you to give me that scroll, Naruto!"

Sasuke gasped as the man who'd thrown the shuriken stepped into the moonlight, and his face was revealed.

Naruto turned around, his eyes wide, and found-

"Uhm, do I… know you?"

The man stiffened, and for a brief moment Naruto thought he looked offended.

"It's me!"

There was a pregnant pause.

"Mizuki! Me!"

"Right, yeah! Mizuki!"

Sasuke looked towards Naruto, eyes narrowed.

"Naruto, you do know who he is, right?"

Naruto felt some sweat begin to form on his brow.

"O-of course! He's Mizuki!"

"Naruto."

"Y-yeah?"

"What does Mizuki do, exactly?"

A single droplet of sweat rolled down his forehead, resting on his cheek.

"H-he's… uhm…"

Sasuke sighed.

"I knew you hadn't been paying attention in class."

Naruto rounded on his friend, sputtering wildly.

"W-what has that got to do with anything!?"

"This man is one of our teachers!" Sasuke shouted, looking exasperated.

"Yes! Finally!" Mizuki shouted above them, seeming just as fed up as Sasuke.

"Alright," Naruto shouted, feeling a bit embarrassed. "I get it, I get it. I'll pay more attention in class."

"Uh, that's really not what this is about!" Mizuki spoke up, now furious. He drew the large shuriken on his back, and held it out in front of him, poised to strike.

Naruto and Sasuke both looked back towards him, but it was Naruto who spoke first.

"OK, Mizuki, if that _is_ your real name."

"What do you mean 'If that _is_ my real name'!?"

"Like I told my friend here," Naruto ignored the man entirely, instead beginning to pace in front of the scroll that he'd set down on the ground. "I already knew someone was going to try and steal this scroll tonight."

That got Mizuki's attention, and the man's eyes narrowed, his posture stiffened.

"How'd you know about that!?"

_I was bullshitting, really, _Naruto thought, _but apparently luck is trying to make up for all my missed birthday's._

"I'm perceptive, Mizuki." Behind him, Sasuke stared at him like one would a puzzle. "You might have been able to fool everyone else," Sasuke's bullshit detectors seemed to be going crazy. "But you can't fool me."

Above him, Mizuki shivered, the shuriken in his hands shaking as the man fought to keep his fear in check.

"But I'm afraid I need to test my new Jutsu, Mizuki," Naruto grinned, and he brought his hands in front of him to create the shadow clone sign. "And you seem eager to volunteer!"

Mizuki whimpered.

Sasuke groaned.

\\-\

"So, we caught him trying to make off with the scroll, and then I used my super jutsu to beat him up and capture him!"

The Anbu didn't seem to believe him.

No, that wasn't entirely accurate, it was more that they didn't want to accept that the boy in front of them, who had just stolen the scroll of seals right out from under their noses, was about to get away with it, too.

"Oh, and Sasuke helped."

The boy in question sighed wearily.

"And why, exactly," An Anbu, one wearing a bird mask, spoke up. "Are there about 50 shadow clones behind you?" Naruto couldn't see the man's face, but he was pretty sure the guy wasn't amused. "A jutsu that was sealed away _in _the scroll of seals, not meant to be learned by anyone below Jonin?"

"So, it is just for high-ranked Jutsu!"

"What?"

"Uhm, nothing!" Naruto shouted, he looked desperately around for Sasuke, and found him standing with his back against a tree, trying to stay as far away from this conversation as possible. Their eyes met, and Naruto mouthed 'Help me!'

Sasuke gave him a look that he was pretty sure meant 'you got yourself into this, get yourself out.'

"Well, the thing is, Mizuki was a Jonin-"

"Chuunin" Sasuke coughed out from beside him.

"A chuunin level ninja, so of course the two of us weren't able to compete against his super skills." Naruto explained.

The Anbu in front of him looked down at Naruto's clothes, which had not a single nick or tear in them, and to Sasuke's, which looked much the same.

"Yes, it seems like you struggled heavily."

"Right!? So, anyways, there we are, fighting for our lives against one of the most powerful ninja the worlds' ever seen," Sasuke lowered his head to rest in his hands, gently massaging his skull. "And Sasuke's just fainted after a stray shuriken almost hit him."

The boy in question somehow managed to look even more annoyed than he had previously, which Naruto thought was probably an achievement.

"I'm at the end of my rope, Mizuki's closing in. He's got his mega-shuriken drawn, and he's ready to strike! But then," Naruto paused for dramatic effect, ignoring that only one of the Anbu was still standing there listening, the rest having arrested Mizuki and taken him away, probably having seen a good excuse to leave. "I saw the abandoned scroll of seals before me, and I looked into its contents for something that could save my life."

"So, you learned the shadow clone to protect yourself, then?" The Anbu sighed, before he picked up the scroll from before the two of them and slung it around his back. "I guess that's fine then. You guys can go, but we'll be dropping by to get your statements later once Mr. Yamanaka looks through his memories."

"Wait! Don't you want to hear the rest of my story!?"

The Anbu looked back at him.

"Not particularly."

And he flash-stepped away.

"Sheesh, what a jerk." He turned towards his friend, who had refrained from speaking in front of the Anbu. "Am I right, Sasuke?"

The glare the boy fixed onto him had Naruto paling instantly. He could sense death itself in those eyes.

"So, I fainted when a shuriken nearly hit me, huh?"

_Oh, _Naruto laughed nervously, _did I say that?_

"Hey, Naruto?"

He swallowed.

"Yeah, Sasuke?"

"Want to spar with me for a little bit?"

"...No?"

"Well, why not? After all, I'm just some scaredy-cat who faints at the first sign of trouble, it's not like you'll have any problem defeating me."

If one were to look at the record of their duels, they would find the score about 60 to 1.

In Sasuke's favor.

"Because you're going to kill me."

"Kill you!? No, no." Sasuke shook his head, an expression on his face that seemed appalled at the very notion.

Naruto could tell he was faking it.

"That would be too kind."

\\-\

It was graduation day, and every single part of Naruto's body hurt.

_Sasuke wasn't very kind, _Naruto thought, wincing as he tried in vain to move his left arm, which responded to him with dull ache and nothing more, _Not very kind at all._

_Even so, _Naruto thought, looking down at the Forehead Protector in front of him, proudly baring the symbol of the leaf village, and smiling brightly. _I can't really be upset right now._

He'd passed this morning, along with every other student in Iruka's class. The teacher had, with some reluctance, taken the shadow clone jutsu as 'an acceptable substitute'.

"Shikamaru?" Iruka Sensei called from the front of the room, eyes laser-focused.

"Here." The boy in question lazily waved a hand, though he continued to rest his head on his other arm, not bothering to look up.

"Get with it, Shikamaru," The teacher spoke up, not with his usual annoyed expression he had when dealing with the lazy child, but one of slight glee. "I may put up with your actions, but I highly doubt your mother will."

The boy went from half asleep to sitting ramrod straight in about half a second, and Naruto could actually hear his back crack, and he winced as Shikamaru tried to bite back a groan of pain.

_Parents are here, today._

It wasn't a happy thought, but it was still the truth, almost everyone else in the class had at least one of their guardians waiting outside for their graduation from ninjas in training to Genin. It was, after all, a once in a life time occasion, and one many parents had taken the day off work or missions to attend.

Naruto had no one, however.

His parents, whoever they were, had gotten themselves killed somehow, and though Old-man Third had never once told him who they were, he had admitted that they both died on the day of his birth.

Just his luck, to have killed the both of them. Maybe that was why everyone in the village hated him so much, because he was just bad luck.

_Although, at the very least,_

"Sasuke?"

_I'm not alone._

"Here."

The boy had a few bruises along his cheeks, and a few more on his stomach that his outfit did a good job of hiding. Naruto grinned slightly when Sasuke put his hand down and immediately began to massage his left arm, hissing slightly as he touched the bruises.

_Yeah, I got some good licks in there, too._

He'd still lost, and quite definitively at that, but it felt good to see concrete proof of his progress. At the very beginning, when they'd first began to spar over 3 years ago, he'd been clumsy and easily knocked over, just plain terrible. He was glad to be able to look back and see just how bad he'd been, even if it did cause him to groan at just how dumb he'd acted back then.

"Naruto?"

"Here!" he stood at his name being called, raising his hand as far in the air as it would go, and smiling wildly.

Iruka's face molded into a soft smile, before he affectionately added "Sit down, Naruto."

He did as asked, grumbling a little bit as a few people giggled to themselves.

Iruka Sensei called out 2 or 3 more names, before he looked over all of them, face panning across the room.

"Well, here we are, all of you, our last day as student and teacher."

_Hey, wait, _Naruto thought, as something funny began to happen with his eyes.

"We'll be having our 'Most-Likely-To' awards in a second, but before we end it out on a high note," Their teacher paused, as a small smile, that was perhaps just the slightest bit sad, appeared on his face. "I'd just like to say a few words."

_Wait, no, _Naruto thought, as something welled up behind his eyes, _that's not cool._

Iruka began to slowly pace a few feet from the front row, his eyes surveying all of the students in the classroom.

"Throughout our years here, I've gotten the opportunity to learn all about you all."

"We've had our bad times, our petty squabbles, and our darkest hours." He didn't so much as breathe in Sasuke's direction, but it was obvious from the way the room felt colder, even to him, that it was what their teacher had meant by it.

"But we've also had our good times, our achievements, and those who managed to excel beyond my wildest expectations." His eyes wandered towards Naruto, and he felt an immense pride hit him all at once, though it came with the growing of the feeling behind his eyes as well. They roamed over Sasuke too, and the black-haired boy couldn't help but shrink slightly as the attention in the room shifted to him.

"And now, here we are." He held his hands out, as if meaning to embrace them all. "At the very end."

A few sniffled at that, and Naruto was both surprised and appalled to find himself among them.

"If you take away one thing from your time as my students, I'd like it to be some grand dream, perhaps you'd like to be a painter, or own a flower shop." he smiled at Ino, and the girl gave him a toothy grin in return. "Perhaps you'll carry on your clan's name, whatever form that may take." Sasuke, Kiba, Shikamaru and Choji all sat a little taller in their seats, while Hinata seemed a bit smaller.

"Perhaps, even," He smiled nostalgically, looking straight at Naruto. "You're aiming to become Hokage one day."

That got most everyone laughing, but even that was sedated by the gargantuan feeling of time's passing.

"I'd love for you to carry these dreams with you, for your entire lives, and think about me every once in a while." He paused, clearing his throat, and then looked up at them all again. "But if you don't have some grand dream, some terribly important goal you're working towards yet, then I'd at least like you to take with you some knowledge."

A few of them groaned, expecting a final lecture, and Iruka smiled knowingly, even if his eyes were watering a bit.

"I'd like you all to know," Every single student, even those normally inattentive, sat a little bit forward in their seats, perhaps subconsciously. "That I am so very proud of each and every one of you."

_Noooo! _Naruto shouted internally, tears beginning to run down his face, _don't cry now! You were doing so well!_

Though judging from what he could hear, he wasn't the only one crying, hell, even Sasuke was looking solemn!

"Now," Iruka had paused for a bit to let his words sink in, and if, secretly, the man had shed a few tears of his own? Well, they wouldn't judge him for it. "I wanted to save this for the end so we could all leave on a high note!"

Their teacher brought out a paper from behind him, containing what looked to be a few questions, though since there seemed to be only the one copy, Naruto figured it wasn't homework.

"It's time for us to award our classes' "Most-Likely-To's!"

A few kids managed to smile and sit up, though a couple were still crying into their hands, but being a bit quieter about it than before.

"These will be awarded right now by class participation, so don't be afraid to shout out your answers, even if it goes against everything I've ever taught you!"

Now he had the rest of the class giggling as well, fully recovered from the impromptu crying session.

"First off, most eligible bachelor!"

A few names were screamed out, with those who did so blushing madly, but Iruka didn't let it go on for more than a few seconds before he interjected.

"Oh, what's that?" The teacher was clearly trying not to crack up at his own joke, but to no avail. "Mr. Iruka? Why, you shouldn't have!"

Naruto himself laughed, along with everyone else, as the teacher awarded himself most eligible bachelor, and they continued onward.

"Most likely to succeed?"

A few voices shouted out a variety of names, but the girls could be a doozy when they all voted for one person, and a nearly unanimous shout of "Sasuke!" erupted from Sakura and Ino's section of the classroom.

The boy in question wilted slightly, but the smile on his face, not to mention the blushing cheeks, was hard to miss.

"Most likely to fall asleep in class?"

Shikamaru himself took the playful jab in stride, laughing along with everyone else as they pointed towards him.

"Most likely to wear a dog as a hat?"

Kiba let out a raucous laugh, Akamaru chirping on top of his head, as everyone pointed at him as well, enjoying the atmosphere.

They went on like that for a while, the teacher making fun of them all in a way that had the whole class cracking up, until he arrived at the end of his list.

"And finally," Iruka Sensei looked down at his paper, gave a small snicker, and then shouted out as loud as he could…

"Most likely to become Hokage!?"

He couldn't help but laugh, really, as every head in the classroom turned towards him, all smiling. There was Sakura, her short pink hair waving slightly as she giggled into her hand. Then Ino, the girl's best friend, giving him a look that reminded him vaguely of a sunny day. There was, of course, Sasuke, his best friend, giving him that small smirk that meant he was in a good mood, and the boy inclined his head towards him.

Then there were other faces he knew less well, Shikamaru, Choji, and Kiba. Hinata and Shino, along with so many others.

He stood up, tied his forehead protector to the back of his head, and smiled as wide as he could, as everyone in the class took a breath at once.

"NARUTO!" They shouted in near perfect unison.

"You know it!" He yelled back.

\\-\

"Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi," Their teacher, Iruka, called out from the front of the room. "You three shall form Team 10."

Sasuke stayed silent, along with everyone else, as the newly christened Team 10 made their way up to the front of the room, Ino grumbling not too quietly about how she was less than happy with her teammates.

He had a feeling that would fade with time, given what the girl was like. Bubbly, happy, and most of all open to change. It was what made her so easy to get to know. Team 10 would probably be friends within a week.

Besides, it wasn't like they didn't already know each other, from what Sasuke had seen. Though begrudgingly, the three did seem to hang out with each other's families a lot, and their formation, the Ino-Shika-Cho, was a cornerstone of the Leaf's military strength.

"I hope we're on a team together." Naruto whispered to his left.

The boy had been adamant about being together on a team for months now, ever since Iruka had explained how they were set up, and Sasuke had honestly heard enough about it to last a lifetime. Still though, he wasn't exactly the most social of people, so he too hoped he'd be on a team with Naruto.

_And, if I'm lucky, _Sasuke thought, looking towards the pink-haired girl in front of him, who was chewing nervously on her fingernail, _I could get both._

Though he kept his hopes up, the chances of him being able to get both of his friends on the same team struck him as a bit far-fetched.

"Next!" Iruka called from the front of the room, the man's eyes roaming over to his own. "Sasuke Uchiha!"

_Well, moment of truth._

"Sakura Haruno!"

He pumped his fist in front of him, at the very least, he could start his tenure on his team with one friend, which was about 1 more than he'd thought he'd have.

Still, he couldn't help but be a bit sad for Naruto, as the boy seemed to deflate slightly in his seat. The chances of him being their third member were-

"And Naruto Uzumaki!"

The boy in question turned to face him with an expression that mirrored the sun, and he shouted out "Yeah!"

"You three shall form Team 7, you will all wait in this room for your Jonin teacher to arrive after I have finished assigning teams. Next!"

The man proceeded to call off a few more teams, but honestly, Sasuke couldn't help but zone him out.

He was on a team with Naruto and Sakura! It was more than he could have hoped for, given that they accounted for two thirds of his entire list of friends. Still, if he was going to be stuck with teammates for the rest of his life, he had wanted them to be people he knew he'd get along with.

By the time everyone else in the class left, and the three were alone, they all mirrored Naruto's expression.

"Well," Sakura spoke up, as she walked over to them and sat down in the row below Naruto and Sasuke, turning her chair to face them. "That worked out better than expected."

"Hell yeah! I can't believe we all got on the same team together!"

"Naruto, could you not scream directly into my ear?" Sasuke spoke up, still hearing a small ringing in the back of his head.

"It's one of my favorite things to do though." The blonde boy pouted slightly, though the smile that broke through a few seconds later betrayed his true feelings.

They talked for a while about this and that, and Sasuke was glad that he no longer passed out from exhaustion whenever he spoke for longer than 30 minutes. That had been a minor roadblock towards making friends, he'd discovered. Apparently it wasn't normal to ask if you could go to bed an hour into a sleepover. At 7 o'clock.

As they droned on for quite a while, one thing came to the forefront of all of their minds.

Naruto looked around, face perplexed, before he spoke up.

"Hey, where's our Jonin Sensei?"

\\-\

Kakashi sneezed violently, which did terrible, terrible things to the inside of a facemask.

As he tried to avoid vomiting whilst picking out another, he idly realized that he probably should arrive to greet the team he'd been loaded with this year.

Lord Third had been adamant about making him into an instructor, and while he was pretty sure the old man was crazy, he also wasn't about to go against his decisions. Kakashi respected him more than enough to go along with whatever weird plan he had for him.

He finished getting dressed, brought his forehead protector down over Obito's left eye, and left his apartment.

As he made his way to the academy, walking calmly through the half-full streets instead of gliding along the rooftops like he probably should've been, he thought about the kids he'd been given this time.

Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, and Naruto Uzumaki.

They were interesting, to say the least, though some more than others.

_Minato's son…_

Kakashi tried to keep his thoughts from dwelling in that direction, if only to hold onto whatever was left of his sanity.

He'd been given not just the son of his former mentor, but one of the last two remaining Uchiha, along with…

Just a random girl, actually, which didn't seem very fair for her.

He made his way into the academy, waved at the secretary, who was cute in a stuck-up kind of way, and pathed towards Iruka's classroom. He was a bit later than he'd meant to be, by about an hour, but that was fine. If his students couldn't handle his being late, well…

Then their relationship wouldn't last very long, anyways.

He opened the door and had two immediate thoughts.

One; that the students in front of him seemed to be getting along rather well, discussing topics quite fervently. Kakashi had been given teams of friends before, but it wasn't like that made much of a difference, if they couldn't work well as a unit, then any advantage friendship could've given them was already null.

And Two; that there was a dusty eraser currently plummeting towards his head. He could have stopped it, thought about it, too, but if this were the result of teamwork between the three of them, then he wanted to let it happen, to see their reactions.

So, it was with some remorse that an eraser bonked him on the top of his head and spread dusty chalk into his hair.

Minato's kid, who looked strikingly like the man in question, tried to hold in his laugh, along with the girl next to him, who must've been Sakura. The black-haired boy, Sasuke, didn't laugh, but Kakashi couldn't miss the small grin on the boy's face.

"H-hey Sensei!" Naruto spoke up, face a mess as he tried and failed to hold in his laughter.

"Naruto!" Sakura hissed, trying to keep her voice down, though it was ineffective through her snickering. "I told you not do that."

"What!?" Naruto had apparently never heard of stealth in his life, for he spoke freely, in a voice that might as well have been a yell. "You gave me a thumbs up!"

Kakashi cleared his throat, finding himself slightly amused. So, the eraser was an act of teamwork?

Then perhaps this could be interesting after all.

\\-\

Sakura had no idea what to make of their Sensei as the four of them arrived on top of the academy's roof. It really wasn't a normal location for talking about one's life goals and aspirations, and she felt that deserved more attention, but apparently _she_ was the crazy one.

"Things I like?" Naruto scratched his chin, thinking long and hard about what he would say. "I like Sasuke, and Sakura, and Ino… Oh, and Lord Third, and Ramen! So many different kinds, like tonkotsu, and-"

"Ok," Kakashi smartly interrupted before the boy could start a sermon about ramen, and he turned towards the resident Uchiha. "Sasuke, how about you?"

The boy in question pondered the question, resting his head on one of his hands, looking a bit bored with the situation.

"I guess I like… mnph."

"What was that?" Kakashi looked mildly amused, leaning towards the boy with an eyebrow raised. "You trailed off at the end."

Sasuke blushed.

"I s-said I liked… my friends…"

Their sensei's smile was evident, even from behind the mask he always seemed to have on.

_What would he do if he sneezed? _Sakura thought, morbidly intrigued.

"And do you have any dislikes?"

She snorted.

_Oh yeah, just a few._

"I don't like a lot of things, but I guess… I don't like hot and sunny days. I don't like sweet foods, and I don't like people very much, nor do I appreciate interacting with them. I don't like when people make fun of my friends for not doing anything wrong, and I don't like-"

Kakashi clapped his hands together

"Ok, we'll cut that off there. How about dreams, goals?"

The air seemed to cool instantly, taking on a bitter edge. Sasuke always seemed to have that effect whenever his goal was brought up. It was like an entire side of himself, one that he kept locked away inside, was suddenly dredged up to the surface.

Sakura hoped it never got loose.

"I wouldn't call it a dream, not really. It's more… I suppose an ambition would be a better word for it. I'm going to get revenge for the slaughter of my family, and then, resurrect the Uchiha clan."

The boy spoke the words purposefully, as he always did. It never failed to send a chill down her spine, and judging by the look on Naruto's face, he was having similar thoughts.

They had learned very early on that Sasuke did _not _like having the Uchiha brought up in any regard. He had never really gotten over what happened to his clan, and Sakura thought that was more than fair. He hadn't obsessed over it either, though, and that was important. Naruto kept the boy far too busy for him to go back to brooding as he had the first few months after his families deaths.

She couldn't imagine what Sasuke would've been like without Naruto's positive influence.

Kakashi Sensei cleared his throat, and the pressure that had hung over the four of them dissipated somewhat.

Sasuke breaking out of his own head a second later caused the pressure to disappear entirely.

"Well," the silver-haired man seemed to not quite know how to recover the situation, and instead gestured to her. "How about you, Sakura?"

"I guess I like my friends, specifically my best friend, Ino," She paused slightly to think of more things, and found herself drawing a blank. What exactly did she do all of the time? Was she really that boring? "I guess I like to draw sometimes."

"That's nice, drawing is nice." Kakashi seemed desperate to grasp onto anything remotely normal between the three of them. "How about dislikes?"

_Eh…_

"I don't really dislike anything in particular… I guess the people in the shopping district who are mean to Naruto," the boy in question shrunk slightly, cheeks aflame. "But other than that… I don't know."

"Goals?"

"I'd like to be… A strong ninja, I think." She spoke loud enough for the three others to hear, but she couldn't help but be a bit nervous. "T-that's really all."

It wasn't, but she was too embarrassed to admit the rest.

"Alright." Kakashi seemed to want to say a few things, probably thought about it as well, and yet came up empty. "Well, you're each… unique."

He cleared his throat.

"We'll be having our first mission tomorrow." He walked to the edge of the building. "come to training ground 3 tomorrow at around… let's say 8 o'clock. Oh, and one more thing!"

He turned back towards the three of them, eyes glinting with barely concealed mirth.

"Make sure not to eat anything before tomorrow, the task ahead can be quite… ugly. I wouldn't want any of you to be sick."

He faux-laughed into his hand, turned and leapt off the building.

The three remaining members of Team 7 said nothing as he left and faced each other with complicated expressions.

"Huh." Naruto spoke, squinting his eyes and looking a bit confused. "He was weird."

\\-\

Kakashi grumbled as he sat up out of his bed, looking for all the world a moving corpse. He felt that way sometimes, too. Still, today he had a job, even if it was one that he took a secret amount of enjoyment in.

It was time to beat up some kids.

And really, what could be more entertaining than that?

By the time he arrived at the training ground, his three students looked ready to rip his throat out, which was good, they'd need that killing intent if they were planning on earning his respect, let alone taking a bell.

"Sensei!" Sakura turned towards him first, spotting him from a larger distance than he'd thought she'd be able to, which really should've been the first sign that today was going to go differently than he'd thought it would. "You said to arrive at 8 o'clock!"

"Yes, I did." Kakashi tried to mask his amusement, which he felt it should've been easier given that he was actually wearing a mask.

"It is nearly noon, Sensei!" He wasn't sure if the girl in front of him realized, but her voice had a certain growl to it, like that of a feral animal.

"Well sure, I said you three were to arrive at 8, I never said anything about when I'd arrive."

Sakura's eye twitched, and he briefly thought she was going to attempt to kill him then and there, but the girl, through some godlike show of self-control, held back, and walked over to stand with her 2 friends, shooting him an intense glare the entire time.

"Alright, let's lay down some ground rules before we get into it."

He took out the two bells he'd had in his back pocket, jingling them in front of his body, and drawing the team's attention once more.

"Your objective today is simple; you'll be attempting to steal these two bells from me. How you go about it is up to you. The two students who are able to take one from me will get lunch at 3 o'clock. If you are unable to secure a bell, you will be unable to eat. Also, if you do not secure a bell by the end of the test, you will-"

He sensed more than he heard a hand whizzing towards one of the bells and dodged to the left just in time for Naruto to go skyrocketing past him.

Where the hell had he come from?

Kakashi looked towards the boy and watched as he disappeared into a puff of white smoke.

_Wait, was that a shadow clone!?_

OK, so that was interesting, time to get back on track with-

He juked two shuriken, and a fireball that nearly managed to singe the front of his jacket. He looked towards where both had originated and saw that Sakura and Sasuke had launched a combined attack on him, looking quite satisfied with themselves.

_Oh, so you think this is funny, do you?_

"As I was saying-"

Three more Naruto's charged out at him, kunai in hand, though they were hardly a threat. He took each on with minimalist movements and watched as the three clones disappeared in puffs of smoke. He'd wanted to break out 'Icha-Icha' and read a little, but it seemed this was going to require more of his attention than he'd initially thought.

It was time to go on the offensive, these kids needed to learn that when the time came that they were faced with a superior opponent, they needed to be able to recognize that, and adapt to it.

He rocketed towards his three students, and, giving them enough time to notice his presence, and react to it, chopped Sasuke on the back of his neck, thinking him to be the strongest opponent.

So imagine Kakashi's surprise when the Sasuke he'd attacked exploded into a puff of smoke, and the two remaining children merely smiled at him.

_Oh. _Kakashi thought, feeling Sasuke's chakra behind him begin to charge up another fireball jutsu, and watching as the Sakura in front of him transformed into another Naruto.

_I shouldn't have given them four hours._

\\-\

Kakashi panted heavily as he sat down next to the three of his students, all of whom were collapsed on the ground, hands splayed at their sides.

They hadn't managed to take a bell throughout the entire day, though not for lack of trying.

_At the same time though,_ Kakashi noted, breathing heavily as he took out Icha-Icha Paradise and began to read, _I don't think I could fail them after that._

He'd come into the day thinking that hunger would make them desperate, that he'd teach them the lesson that without teamwork, they stood no chance against him.

They had, apparently, already known that.

Kakashi laughed, more exhausted then he'd been in a long while. Defeating the three of them would've been easy, of course. He could've killed them in his sleep. But trying to avoid every single attack they threw at him, whilst never really being allowed to incapacitate or defeat them for the purpose of the test?

That was slightly more difficult.

And they had been relentless to boot. They were never down for more than 15 minutes, coming at him time and time again. What was worse, or for them, better, was that they had never attacked him without all three of them ready to strike, and when they had done techniques with only two, it had just been a diversion for the other member to try and take a bell.

He was impressed, and for that, they'd earned his respect.

"OK, you guys pass. Congratulations and everything."

Sakura raised her hand in victory, though it fell half a second later, her being too exhausted to truly keep it there. Naruto let out a small "Whoop." But his voice cracked at least 3 times, and it was lacking any of his usual energy.

Kakashi was fairly sure Sasuke had fallen asleep.

"Well, this has been eventful. I'll see you all tomorrow for our first mission." He stood up, dusted himself off, and flash stepped away.

He just missed Sakura mutter "I hate him."

\\-\

In the Hokage's office, signing paperwork and trying to avoid talking with his advisors, Hiruzen Sarutobi sat silently.

A knock struck against his door, and he let out a melancholy "enter", knowing that he was about to have a very unwanted conversation with Danzo, and-

"It's me, sir." A ninja with silver hair knelt in front of him, and Hiruzen had to hide his smile at seeing someone he actually _did _want to talk to.

"Kakashi, what brings you here?"

The man in front of him raised him head, nodded once to show compliance, and began to speak.

"I wanted to let you know that Team 7 has passed my test, I will take them on as their Jonin Sensei effective immediately."

Now _that _was good news. He had expected those three to be different and was delighted to hear that his prediction had proven correct. Though something about Kakashi's expression told him the ninja wasn't done.

"Is that all, Kakashi?"

"No sir, I had a question, actually."

"Speak, then."

The scarecrow looked up at him, his eyes trying to read into Hiruzen's own, and seemed to find nothing there.

"Did you plan this?"

A small smile bloomed onto the Hokage's face.

"What are you talking about, Kakashi? Please, explain."

"This team… it seems awfully similar in structure to two others I know of," Kakashi was looking towards the floor, but the Kage could see his brow furrow. "It just… doesn't strike me as a coincidence, sir."

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat back in his chair. He placed one hand on his desk, and the other drew his pipe to his lips. As smoke billowed out of his mouth, he looked towards the ninja in front of him, and gave him a wry smile.

"Why, Kakashi," He spoke, eyes glinting with some unforeseen scheme.

"I'm certain I have no idea what you mean."

**End Chapter 4**

* * *

**Alright, so that was Chapter 4!**

**I actually had this chapter ready to go on Monday, but I wanted to stick to my schedule of updating on Wednesdays. If you'd like to see more sporadic, but occasionally more frequent updates, feel free to let me know.**

**This is really more of a transitional chapter before we get into the Land of Waves Arc, where some of the first major effects of Naruto and Sasuke's meeting will be seen.**

**Alright, see you guys in a week! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Alright.**

**It's finals week, but I still managed to get this chapter out, and I've got to say I'm happy about that.**

**I have some ideas for other stories I might want to write in the future, but I think for now I'm just going to focus on this one, at least until the conclusion of the 2nd arc.**

**I've got some comments about pairings in this story. I'll say that I don't have any real plans for ships in mind, and am instead just going to let the story flow naturally. If I like any of the relationships between the characters enough, I'll probably then make them a pair. This has always been my favorite approach to dealing with relationships in my stories, because I allow them to evolve through interactions, and then pick my favorites in the end.  
**

**If you're shipper crazy, then rest assured, there will definitely be some pairings. If you're not, then don't worry, they won't affect the story much at all.**

**Anyways, without further ado, let's get on with it!**

* * *

**Chapter 5: Making Waves**

* * *

"Remind me again why we're chasing a cat half-way across Konoha?"

"Mostly? Because I told you to."

"That seems like a really crappy reason in hindsight, Sensei."

"I don't need your lip, and remember, you three wanted to do code names, so we're doing code names, you're Blossom Dance, I'm Silver Fang."

"'You three wanted to do code names' seems unfair, given that both Sakura and I protested the idea."

"Quiet, Dark Shadow!"

"What are you- Wait is _that_ my code name!?"

"I've got her! Mission compl- Ow! What the- She's scratching me! Augh!"

"This is Blossom Dance, I'm on route to Orange Julius, over."

"Er… This is Sasuke, I'm-"

"This is Silver fang, please use your code name in official communications, over."

"Ergh… This is… Dark Shadow, I'm rendezvousing with Orange Julius and Blossom Dance, over."

"Better, over."

"I hate you, over."

Kakashi laughed, listening in as his students struggled to capture Tora, who was somehow both still alive after his own team had successfully brought her back into her master's arms over 10 years ago, and, from the sound of his team's screams, much better at defending herself.

_But how the hell is she alive? _Kakashi thought, listening as his team screamed out attack names, a fireball jutsu among them, which, against any normal cat, may have been overkill.

He knew Tora, however, and he knew it was not overkill.

"How the hell did it still dodge that!?"

"We can do this! Focus, Team!"

"Uh, yeah, OK." Sasuke spoke up quietly, missing out on the overly-hyped atmosphere of the other two. He probably saw this for what it was, more than they'd bargained for.

Kakashi snorted. He felt he could see the grimacing face of Team 7's resident introvert, despite being a kilometer or so away.

Still, it was more fun to stir the pot, wasn't it?

"More excitement, Dark Shadow!" He spoke up, feigning utter seriousness. "Tora is a Jonin rank foe, you'll need to fight with all your strength to defeat her!"

"You suck- Gah!"

Sasuke had made to speak, but was interrupted by something, presumably Tora, and had the wind knocked out of him.

"Alright! I've had enough! Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

There was a sound akin to several hundred small explosions going off, and then the sound of several hundred Naruto's shouting out "I've got you!"

They seemed to have it covered, Kakashi thought.

/-/

Naruto was _very_ happy, standing in front of an older woman as she cradled Tora into her bosom, strangling the evil cat in it. He didn't even hold back the slightly sadistic smile that grew on his face as the cat looked at him, seemingly desperate for aid.

"Long live the king, Tora." He spoke softly.

The cat narrowed its eyes, and if Naruto wasn't aware that the creature in front of him was just that, an animal, he might've thought it shot him a look of cold fury. It seemed to remark that he would pay for what he'd done. Still, the effect was lost when the cat was once more pulled into a terribly tight embrace by her mistress, and Naruto's smirk returned.

He deserved to feed his sadistic side a pinch, what with how terrible that mission had been. They'd done a few D-ranked missions now, all of them crappy, annoying, or somewhere in between. They'd walked dogs, trimmed plants, and watched over small shops.

It was boring, boring, boring!

"Hey, old man!" Naruto shouted, walking over to where the Third Hokage was standing, probably about to give them _another _D-rank mission. "When are we gonna get to do _actual _ninja stuff!?"

If the Hokage found his words annoying, he didn't make it known, taking a puff from his pipe, setting it down, and looking at Naruto with an amused expression.

"Is there something wrong with the missions I've had you on so far, Naruto?"

"Yeah! They all suck! They're crappy missions! I don't- Ow!"

He had been cut off when Sakura lightly smacked him on the back of the head, eyes narrowed slightly.

"Don't speak out of turn to the Hokage, you doofus!"

Naruto pouted, but didn't say anything. He'd learned over the course of their three or so years together that listening to Sakura was a good idea more often than not.

"At the same time, though," She turned towards where the old Kage sat, smiling apologetically. "Is there any way we could get some more… stimulating missions?"

_Huh, so even she's bored._

The Third Hokage laughed softly, before smiling, his face crinkling with age. He looked up towards their third teammate.

"And what about you, young Sasuke, what do you think?"

The boy in question looked sheepish, not quite able to meet the old man's eyes, but still opened his mouth. "I'd like something more challenging, as well."

"See old man!" Naruto stood up once more, massaging the back of his head where Sakura had smacked him. "I told you we wanted some cooler missions!"

"Oh yeah, I'm sure you were _sooo_ concerned about what we wanted." Sakura muttered quietly from behind him, though easily loud enough for him to hear. He decided to ignore her.

The Hokage merely laughed again, apparently amused by their antics, and turned at last towards their Sensei.

"How about it, Kakashi," the old man's eyes twinkled with some foreign emotion, and Naruto didn't think himself smart enough to know exactly what it was. It seemed a bit like… he was having fun. "Do you think they're ready?"

The three students of Team 7 turned towards their Sensei, pleading looks on their faces, though some were more subtle about it than others.

Kakashi looked over them, and then, with a worldly sigh, turned back towards the Hokage.

"I suppose so."

"Yeah!" Naruto jumped up, thrusting his fist into the sky. He walked over towards the mission desk. "So, what kinds of missions do you have for us!?"

"I'd like it to be something simple to start, perhaps an escort mission?" Sakura spoke up from beside him.

"I don't really care." Sasuke's face told Naruto that that statement was a lie, and that he in fact cared a lot.

"Hmm…" The third Hokage looked around, then, took out a small scroll and handed it to their sensei. "This is a C-ranked escort quest. Do you think they can handle it?"

The Jonin smiled under his mask, looking a bit exhausted.

"I'm sure they'll manage."

"All right, then." He turned towards one of his assistants, and whispered "call him in."

"Yes sir." The man spoke, before walking out of the room.

Naruto could hardly contain his excitement. He bounced in place, trying to find something productive to do with his hands, but not really settling on anything.

"So, so," when he could handle it no longer, he spoke up, eyes glinting. "Who is it we're escorting?"

The Hokage gave him a new look, and if it hadn't been on his teammates' faces just a while ago, as they watched that evil creature named Tora struggle in her master's arms, he probably wouldn't have recognized it.

It was sadistic glee.

Naruto wasn't sure why, but he felt a slight chill.

_I wonder what that means?_

/-/

Sasuke understood, now, why the Hokage had looked like he was about to laugh when he saw how excited Naruto was.

He was probably thrilled to be rid of this guy.

"Aw man, look at you three, you look like you're trying so hard to be serious ninja, Hahaha!"

"I won't forgive old man third for this." Naruto spoke quietly, eyes narrowed as he stared out ahead of them, trying his best to ignore the constant barbs of their charge walking a bit behind them.

His name was Tazuna, and he was a bridge-builder. That was about all they'd gotten out of him before he'd started the endless tirade of deprecating comments, which had even managed to get on Sakura's nerves, if the pink-haired girls' clenched fists were anything to go by.

It was with an almost palpable relief that he saw a small puddle in the middle of the dirt road, and exhaled, satisfied.

A ninja was here, trying to kill them all.

That meant that Tazuna would probably shut up.

If their assailant survived this, Sasuke would have to thank him for that.

He looked towards Naruto, and found the boy trying to meet his eyes as well. His friend nodded to him and communicated the same thing to Sakura.

They'd play it cool, since they all knew what was happening. An ambush was only effective if the party you were ambushing didn't know about it. A surprise attack without the element of surprise was often worse than a frontal assault, because you had to surrender control of the battle.

Behind them, their sensei, Kakashi, nodded to each of them in turn. They all signaled back.

They were ready.

A second later, as they crossed over the small pool of water, the situation erupted.

Twin ninja, wielding two massive gauntlets connected by a chain, charged at their Sensei, aiming to take him out first.

They wrapped the spiny chain around Kakashi, who grunted in pain as he struggled against it.

_Please, like he'd go down to such an assault._

Kakashi was sliced into multiple pieces, each falling to the ground.

There was a brief moment of silence, as Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke all stared down at their masters corpse.

_Huh._

Naruto froze, whether through fear or shock, Sasuke did not know, but that couldn't be his concern now. He leapt towards the ninja in front of them and shouted out a command to those behind him.

"Sakura, protect the old man, Naruto, snap out of it!"

It seemed to work fairly well, because he saw Naruto bring out a kunai from behind him. Sakura herself took a position in front of Tazuna, just as he reached the twin ninja's that had killed his master.

He was, momentarily, overcome with a small amount of grief. He hadn't liked Kakashi, but he didn't like most things, and he definitely didn't want to see the man carved into pieces by enemy ninja.

It was a second later that he noticed his master's corpse looked suspiciously like a pile of logs, and Sasuke had to suppress both a sigh of relief and an annoyed groan.

_So, this is all just a test then?_

A clawed hand brought him out of his thoughts, and he dodged and weaved through the twin ninja's first assault.

_That wasn't very hard. _Sasuke noted as he landed in a squat position, shuriken drawn behind his back. _They're not very good. _

An orange blur impacted one of the twins from behind, stunning him slightly. The man growled, just managing to block Naruto's concealed kunai with his gauntlet. He gripped onto the blonde boy's right arm and thrust him towards where Sasuke was standing, and he was just barely able to avoid colliding with Naruto as he came hurtling towards him. Naruto twirled in midair, and rolled to a stop next to him, eyes hard and focused.

Sasuke smirked. He'd taught him that landing, right down to drawing a shuriken in your off hand, in a way your opponent couldn't see, just in case you needed it. The sleight of hand had definitely won him a few early spars against the boy.

And all the rest, too, but that was more raw ability than any underhanded technique.

"You alright?" Sasuke asked, not taking his eyes off the pair in front of them.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"I'll take the right; you got the left?"

He heard Naruto laugh, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw the boy crouch a little lower, taking a more offensive stance. He was ready to move at any moment, just waiting on Sasuke's command.

"Go!"

They shot forward.

/-/

"So," Kakashi began, backing his words with a small amount of killing intent, likely for the purposes of interrogation. "You lied to us."

The bridge builder, who Sakura had been guarding while the other two fought off the ninja, didn't meet the Jonin's eyes.

"I-I didn't have a choice, you see! Those people, Gato's men, they've been milking our village dry! We didn't have the money to request anything more than a C-ranked mission!"

Sakura grimaced slightly. It wasn't the answer she'd been hoping for. She didn't want the man in front of her to actually have a good reason for his lie! She wanted him to be a slime ball, willing to throw away the lives of junior ninja because he didn't feel like paying for a higher ranked mission, not some village hero!

From the looks of things, Naruto and Sasuke were having similar thoughts, looking down to the floor with conflicted expressions.

"Yes, that's all well and good, but my team isn't equipped to take on missions against actual trained ninja's." Kakashi pointed back over to the twin pair they'd captured, who sat a ways away, wrapped in their own chain. "Those two were Low-Chuunin level, no doubt about it. For me, and even my team here, they're no problem at all."

"Then you'll continue!?" Tazuna looked up at their Sensei, desperately searching for confirmation that they'd help him.

"I cannot allow that."

The man before them deflated instantly.

"I may be able to handle them, and those stronger, but my team?" he gestured to the three of them. "They are just Genin, and if what you're telling me is correct, then this Gato has probably hired people stronger than even those two over there."

The bridge builder winced, looking down with a defeated expression.

"Sensei?"

All eyes turned towards her, and Sakura realized with some surprise that it was her who'd spoke.

"What is it, Sakura?"

She took a deep breath and raised her head to look her teacher in the eye.

"I'd like to continue the mission."

Kakashi's single eye widened.

"I would as well, Sensei."

"Yeah, Yeah! Me too!"

Their Sensei looked over the three of them, a complicated expression on his face as he examined each of them. Whatever he found there seemed to amuse him, for he laughed a second later, and then turned towards the dejected bridge builder on the ground.

"Well, Tazuna, it seems you're in luck."

"Really!?"

The honest joy in the man's voice was enough to make Sakura smile earnestly, and she could see her own expression mirrored onto the faces of her teammates. She would have felt pretty bad to have to abandon this man's village, along with the man himself, who was already being hunted by ninja.

"We'll take your mission."

"Oh, that's great! I was worried I'd have to start guilting you all in a moment or two, Hahaha!"

OK, so maybe Sakura wouldn't have felt _that _bad.

/-/

"Zabuza, sir," A voice called out to him from just outside his room, thought soon their identity was revealed, Haku stepping in a moment later. "The demon brothers were unsuccessful."

"Tsk."

That was an annoyance, and one he hadn't particularly felt like dealing with. Still, it wasn't a problem. The demon brother's were just a throw-away, two kid's who'd followed him and Haku out of the mist after their failed coup. They were expendable, and expended they'd been.

"That's fine, Haku." Zabuza turned to look at the boy stood before him, who was eyeing him curiously. "I suppose I'll just have to do this myself."

Haku nodded towards him, smiling softly. The boy had never once doubted him, and for that, Zabuza was grateful. It wouldn't do for a tool to go having thoughts, after all, he was still useful like this. Malleable, moldable, and growing stronger by the day.

Zabuza was also, in the deepest depths of his mind, the smallest bit proud.

He'd never say it, of course, but he could oftentimes find himself thinking of the boy as a surrogate son. After all, he'd picked him up off the street when he was just a weak child, barely able to fend for himself.

_Perhaps I'm going soft, _Zabuza thought with a small chuckle.

"What is it, Zabuza sir?"

Haku had a small smile on his face, likely in response to Zabuza's own laughing, though he was fairly sure the boy didn't even realize it.

"Nothing, kid." He walked over to the corner of the room, where his great sword, Kubikiribōchō, rested against the wall. He took hold of it and smiled fondly at the familiar weight in his hand. The sword had an odd knack of calming him down whenever he held it, though that was probably just his battlefield instincts, always feeling safer, more at ease, with a weapon in hand.

"I'll be heading out. No need to follow me, I'll have this done in an hour."

He'd said that, but the both of them knew that Haku would be trailing behind him whether he told him to or not. The boy did nod, but he couldn't quite meet Zabuza's eye.

_Hmph, _He breathed out a laugh, opening the door to their small abode, and stepping out into the cold, foggy air. Maybe that brat really was turning him soft, though he'd kill anyone for saying anything like _that _about him.

He smiled quietly to himself, almost affectionately.

_Damned brat._

/-/

Zabuza found him – or perhaps, them – a while later, walking in a group and watching their flanks. They didn't spot him, wouldn't, unless he desired them to. He was not called the silent assassin for nothing.

Still, though, that was a face he hadn't expected to see.

_Kakashi Hatake._

He'd never met the man before, and if he was willing to be perfectly honest with himself, he'd never really wanted to, either. Zabuza did not think himself weak, nor that any could truly be that much stronger than he was. Still, the thought of facing someone perhaps even more well known than him?

A twinge of fear coursed through him, before he mercilessly slaughtered it. Fear was good, it kept you alive, after all. It was what had allowed human's to grow from primitive apes to the apex predator of all the lands.

But fear on the battlefield? That was not always to be heralded. Any soldier, no matter how brave, nor virtuous, nor strong, felt some level of fear. Instincts bred by thousands of years told you that if your life was in danger, flee.

Things were rarely that simple.

And so, as he flung his massive blade towards the crowd of ninja's ahead, hoping, but not really expecting, for it to cleave them in twain, Zabuza made himself feel an eerie calm.

It wasn't any particular ability that allowed him to do it. He didn't have a Jutsu that could make him feel no fear. But he had experience. He'd personally caused hundreds, if not thousands of deaths with his own hands. His classmates in the academy, his opponents on the battlefield, hell, he'd tried to kill his own Kage. It was what he'd had to do, sometimes wanted to do, so he'd done it. After all that time, all that killing… well, it just didn't affect him like it used to.

The thought of killing some kids? That didn't appeal, but he'd do it to continue to eke out this life he had now. One where they were constantly hunted, at every turn, by the Mist village, but one they'd need to continue on with if he was to have his revenge, and finally see the Mizukage bleed on his blade.

He was a merciless demon, a wielder of one of the Seven blades of the Mist, known throughout the world. He was not one to show any mercy, not even to young brats fresh off of academy training.

But maybe, if he'd aimed his sword just a little higher than he probably should have, making it easy for them to duck underneath it, especially for the younger looking Genin?

Then perhaps he was just losing his touch.

Kakashi, having sensed the attack, yelled for the group to get down, and the children all just managed to avoid being bisected. He nearly had to clamp down on his relief.

_Why should I care? _Zabuza found himself asking.

He knew the answer, even if he didn't want to.

_Damned brat. _

Unfortunately for him, it meant he'd lost the element of surprise, and with nothing to show for it, either. Perhaps the rabbit substitution he'd used earlier had been too obvious. It was native to his homeland, after all, but definitely not to this land of waves. He'd have to tame a new one later, preferably one that blended in a bit more.

Still, he had a job to do. He felt the muscles in his body tighten as he prepared for combat. Something within him howled it's assent, perhaps some petty demon.

_Or perhaps just me. _

With a few small hand signs, he flash-stepped on top of his sword, letting it support his weight, and stood ready to counter anything they'd throw at him.

"Zabuza Momochi, rogue ninja of the Mist Village."

It was Kakashi who spoke, eyes narrowed and weapon's readied, though he still covered his left eye.

Everyone of a certain level had heard of the Sharingan, it wasn't exactly kept secret. The fact that the entire clan had been all but wiped out had lead to some brief celebrations from people outside the leaf, they'd never have to face that eye again on the battlefield.

Or they wouldn't have had to, if not for Kakashi Hatake, one of the most powerful Jonin in the world. Word of his Sharingan had been going back as far as the Third Shinobi World War, and Zabuza could personally remember hearing about him in some of the later skirmishes.

"A rogue ninja? The heck is that?"

It was one of the Genin who spoke, one with blonde hair and blue eyes, though the boy was squinting up at him from where he stood on the ground.

"A ninja who has abandoned their village or was cast out in disgrace." Kakashi spoke authoritatively, stepping calmly in front of the children who were likely his students, guarding them from him. "In this case, both."

Zabuza smirked beneath the bandages that covered the lower half of his face, and stepped down onto the ground, gripping his sword in his hand. He cast his eyes over the three students behind the Jonin, who were standing in a fairly standard formation around his target, Tazuna. They had drawn weapons, but none of them looked particularly confident in using them. He'd hazard a guess that the kids had never seen their teacher look so serious before.

The man in front of him certainly seemed calm enough, though. His eye was sharply focused on Zabuza's own and gave away nothing. Only a cold sense of preparation, and a promise.

It told him 'I will kill you.'

He had to laugh as he swung his massive blade to rest on his shoulder, posture relaxed, yet ready to swing into battle at a moments notice. He'd kill them all, truly, he would. He didn't want to have to kill these kids, they reminded him a bit too much of his own – and wasn't that a scary thought, he considered Haku _his_ – but he'd still do it if they gave him no choice.

He'd give them a choice, first, though.

"I'll ask just the once," He pointed his sword forward, holding it up with pure brutish strength. "Surrender your charge, and I'll have no reason to kill the rest of you."

The group didn't respond, instead, they tightened their formation, with Kakashi walking just a bit closer to them, but moving his free hand to rest on his headband, to pull it up and expose his hidden eye if needed.

Zabuza exhaled disappointedly, but brought his sword up, and readied himself for combat.

/-/

In Naruto's opinion, things could have been going better.

Their Sensei had been captured, held in a watery prison, and suspended a few feet in the air, while he and Sasuke tried desperately to dispel the clone of the man who'd been roughing them up non-stop for the past 20 minutes.

Which seemed weird to him, because he was pretty sure this guy could've killed all of them by now, but he just…

Wasn't.

Well, not his place to question luck, who'd all of a sudden decided that Naruto was her favorite person.

He rolled to the side as the massive blade pierced the earth, digging a good foot or so into the ground, before, with a strength he could only dream of, the man attacking them ripped it back up. He stared at the two of them, and then at Sakura a ways back, who was guarding Tazuna. He seemed intrigued, perhaps he'd expected less of a fight from them.

Kakashi had told them to leave, and honestly, Naruto didn't think it was all that bad of an idea himself, but the other two hadn't so much as budged when the man said it, so he'd done the only thing he really could do and stuck around as well.

It wasn't a mistake, it was never a mistake to be able to protect his friends, but he couldn't say he didn't regret it just a tad, as the small cuts and bruises on his body continued to build up.

Sasuke was fighting beside him, ducking behind Zabuza's blade, and trying to plunge a kunai into the clone that faced the two of them, only for it to juke away just in time to avoid it. They'd not manage to even scratch the clone the entire time they'd been fighting.

"Naruto," He spoke up, panting slightly and wiping sweat away from his brow. "This isn't working."

_And the winner of the most obvious statement ever award goes to…_

"Yeah, I got that!"

Another dodge, another cut, though this one was a little deeper than the last, scoring him just below his shoulder.

"Naruto?"

"Yeah!?"

"You remember the underhanded things I used to do in spars that you hated?"

He growled just thinking about them.

"Yeah."

"Use them!"

Well that was vague, even if it was good advice. They were outmatched in conventional battle, that much was obvious.

Fight dirty, and they might just win.

The next time that Zabuza's blade cut across him, and he just barely ducked down beneath it, Naruto reached back into his tool bag and drew two shuriken, masking the motion as him trying to regain his balance. He did a backflip away from the man's sword, just outside of his range, and waited...

For Sasuke to make his move.

It wasn't obvious, and to anyone else, it probably wouldn't have even been a signal at all. But it was exaggerated, the way that Sasuke fell off-balance the next time he dodged the man's strike, falling to his side and having to roll away, lest he be cut in twain.

It was a feint; the boy threw two kunai as he exited the motion.

Neither of them had expected that to work, though, and the clone in front of them batted one of the kunai away with the back of his hand, and simply sidestepped the other. That was fine, even as he ducked under the shuriken Naruto threw, it didn't matter.

He was never the target.

It was a quiet victory, really, as the Zabuza that stood beside their Sensei suddenly recoiled in pain and shock. After all, he probably hadn't expected a second shuriken hiding in the shadow of Naruto's first. It wasn't a particularly advanced maneuver, either. It was just a mean-spirited trick between friends. It was just an attack Sasuke had pulled out of his ass one day when Naruto wasn't expecting it.

He still had the scar, directly under his right breast.

Zabuza would too, it seemed, as he stumbled briefly. For anyone else, such a movement wouldn't have constituted a moment of weakness, something that could be capitalized on.

Kakashi Sensei was not just anyone else.

The man sent a burst of Chakra into the bubble in front of him, on the opposite side from where Zabuza was pouring it in. The weakest point, Naruto assumed.

It came apart with a satisfying 'pop'.

Their teacher wasted no time.

There was no interim moment. Zabuza had been stood, briefly stunned, and the next, he was blasted back several meters, with Kakashi already beginning to make the signs for his next jutsu.

Naruto smirked as the clone stood in front of the two of them melted into the dirt, made entirely of water as it was. Sasuke turned around, looking presumably for Sakura, and nodded to her to signal that they were both OK.

"Stay away, you three." Kakashi spoke calmly, his hands finally came to a stop, forming the sign 'tiger'. "I'll handle things from here."

He looked towards them, giving them a small smile.

"And also, well done."

Their Sensei leapt into action.

/-/

It took only a minute for Kakashi to defeat their assailant.

Which raised the question, for Sasuke at least, why he hadn't started with the Sharingan and ended this little fight before it could escalate.

Such questions were pointless, however. No one had been severely injured, despite Naruto's constant hissing as he poked and prodded his scratched up arms, so he couldn't really blame their teacher much at all.

Still though…

_The Sharingan._

Sasuke's teeth clenched, even as he tried to hide his true feelings from the outside world. Naruto settled his hand on his shoulder a second later, however, nodding towards him in a 'you okay?' kind of gesture, so it seemed he'd failed there.

He sighed, and with a great deal of effort, resigned to ask about this later. He nodded down towards Naruto, and they watched as Kakashi closed in on the defeated form of Zabuza, slumped against a tree. Whether he'd kill their assailant or not, Sasuke didn't particularly care. Anyone who attacked his friends had, in Sasuke's eyes, already forfeited their life.

Though even he couldn't quite hold back his surprise at seeing two needles pierce the man's neck, killing him before Kakashi could so much as make a move.

"What the-" Naruto spoke, understandably confused.

"C'mon, we'll go assist. Sakura," He turned back to see the girl once more ready to defend Tazuna, kunai at the ready, eyes just as sharp. "Never mind, you're way ahead of me."

"Pfft, I'm always ahead of you," she smiled briefly, but killed it a second later. "Go you two, I've got this."

They both made a small noise of acknowledgement, before running over to where their teacher stood.

It took them a few seconds to make it to where Kakashi was, and by that time, he'd already started conversing with the figure who'd killed Zabuza. They weren't very tall, perhaps 5 foot or so, but they spoke with a calmness beyond their years, for Sasuke couldn't see them as being any older than 16.

"We've been hunting this one a while, I simply wanted to thank you for your assistance." The Ninja took a deep bow, before taking one of their assailants arms around their shoulder and hauling him up.

"It was no issue at all." Kakashi himself looked tired, and Sasuke felt it was actually quite a large issue, but remained silent nonetheless.

"Well, I'll be off, I have to return this back to the Mist Village." And with one final hand sign, the boy in front of them disappeared, along with the body.

"Hey, Kakashi Sensei?" It was Naruto who spoke up, wearing a conflicted expression. "How old do you think that guy was?"

Their teacher didn't answer for a second, instead putting away the kunai he held in his right hand into his tool bag, and then turning to face the blonde boy.

"Perhaps… I'd put him around 14 or 15."

Naruto hissed, looking down at his hands.

"B-but he was strong enough to finish off that Zabuza guy! How could…" Naruto brought his hands together, clenching them both. "How could he be so much stronger than me!?"

There was a brief moment of silence, in which Kakashi walked to stand before the two of them.

"Not all villages raise their cadets the same way. The Mist Village is… particularly brutal."

Sasuke looked down at his feet.

_So, what Zabuza said about killing one's classmates… that was true?_

"They may end up being stronger in the short-term, but…" Kakashi shook his head, sighing deeply. "They're certainly not able to hold up later in life. They're just too broken."

Their teacher turned to look Naruto in the eye.

"Answer me this, Naruto. If you knew you could be as strong as him, but you had to kill one of your classmates to do it," Kakashi's eye's became hard, the Sharingan seemed to gaze directly into the boy's soul. "Would you?"

Naruto looked stunned for but a moment, before he looked away, clenching his jaw.

"Of course not!"

Kakashi smiled gently, though it was partially hidden behind his mask. He rubbed Naruto's hair, messing it up, and earning a small squawk of protest, before he stepped by him and started walking over to where Sakura and Tazuna stood, still on guard.

As they followed him, Sasuke thought about what their sensei had said.

_If you had to kill one of your classmates to do it..._

_'You must kill your closest friend'._

A shiver ran down his spine, and Sasuke briefly stopped, too shaken to move. Naruto brought him out of it a second later, a hand on his shoulder as he looked his friend in the eye.

"You alright, Sasuke?"

He exhaled rapidly, trying to control his breathing. When he finally felt a little better, he looked at his friend and smiled gratefully.

"Yeah... Thanks Naruto."

The boy smiled goofily, instantly dispelling some of the fog that hovered around his mind.

_I'll reject your strength, Itachi, and grow stronger my own way. _

They followed behind their Sensei, rushing a bit to catch up to him.

A second later, the man stumbled.

"K-Kakashi sensei, are you-"

He fell without a word.

**End Chapter 5**

* * *

**Bum bum bum! What a cliffhanger!**

**Not really, since this happens in canon, too. ****As usual, expect the next chapter come next Wednesday. **

**Oh, and also, let me know how you feel about the overall tone of the story, because I've had some people say it was a bit weird. Which I guess is fair. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Alright, this one's a bit late, but here we are.**

**Nothing at all to say. So without further ado, let's get into it.**

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**Chapter 6: Reassurances and Beginnings  
**

* * *

"I've got him, you guys get the door."

Tazuna held out an old, rusted key to him, which Sasuke took and twisted into the lock. Hearing a faint 'click', he twisted the know and opened the door. The bridge-builder let him hold Kakashi's left side once more, walking into the house first. Team 7 followed behind him a second later, and Sasuke got his first real look at the man's home.

The place was… perhaps quaint was the nicest word for it.

Tazuna's home was easily larger than Sasuke's own apartment, though that wasn't exactly saying much. It was two stories, though that certainly didn't make it ornate. The wood was coming apart in multiple places, whether from ware or termites he couldn't be sure, and a nail or two stuck out from what looked to be recent attempts to patch some things up. There was a small shelf to his left, and Sasuke briefly examined the picture frame that lay atop of it. In it were two people he didn't know, and Tazuna himself.

Though judging from the hand coming from outside the ripped photo, there had used to be a fourth person in it as well. He wondered what the story was there.

On his right, there was a dining room, though calling it that was a bit unfair. It was completely barren except for a table and 4 chairs. Straight ahead was a stairway that likely led to the second story, and on his left was a mostly empty room, though a few futon's were haphazardly scattered about it.

"Lay him down in here." Tazuna spoke up, gesturing to one of the mats.

Sasuke and Naruto nodded, carrying their Sensei between them. They had left Sakura on guard duty, which was a risk, since she was the worst of them with traditional offensive Justus, but her sense for Chakra was better than theirs as well. She would have been able to tell someone was coming for them faster than either of the other members of Team 7 could.

Luckily for all of them, no one had.

They laid Kakashi down onto the bedded floor, being careful not to shake him too much. They weren't exactly sure what was wrong, the man had collapsed before he could say anything about it.

Sasuke had an idea, though.

It wasn't unheard of, back in the days of the warring states period, his father had once told him, for enemy ninja to try and steal the Sharingan, and implant them into their own eyes. It was very rarely successful, since the Uchiha were the second fiercest clan of the era, but a few had, apparently, managed it. According to his father, a non-Uchiha using the Sharingan would lead to heavy exhaustion, horrible migraines, and even fainting spells.

He had questions to ask his teacher when the man woke up, about how he'd gotten that eye, and gotten so proficient at using it.

Still, those could wait for now.

"You guys can… make yourselves at home." Tazuna gestured depressingly at the room, which Sasuke felt just about summarized it's state. "It's not much, I know, but-"

"It's more than enough." Sakura spoke up, bowing lightly to the man, before setting her stuff down and sitting on one of the small futons.

Their client didn't seem to know how to take the compliment, as shallow as they all knew it was, staring owlishly for a moment, before he made his way out into the hallway, and up the central stairs.

"That was nice of you." Sasuke looked back towards where Sakura was stationed, leaning back against the wall with her eyes closed.

"I didn't really know what else to say."

He made a small noise of acknowledgment, before turning to their last team-member.

"Naruto, how are you-"

The boy was fast asleep, laying on his face, with his behind arched comically into the air.

Sasuke sighed but couldn't help the smile that bloomed on his face.

"We should probably follow his example. I wish we could both just sleep, but…" He looked out of the small window, eyeing for anyone that may be trying to ambush them. "We just don't know if someone will attack. And with Kakashi Sensei down, it's especially dangerous."

Sakura nodded towards him.

"I'll take first watch, then. I didn't do any of the fighting today, the least I can do is watch your backs while you sleep." She smiled to show she was just kidding, but Sasuke could see some of the lingering pain behind her eyes.

She didn't like sitting on the sidelines.

"Thanks then, I'll leave it to you." He walked over to the only unclaimed futon on the ground and laid down upon it. It was nothing at all compared to his bed back home, but it was a bit better than lying on the cold floor, so he wouldn't complain.

He hadn't just accepted because he felt bad for her, but also because he was truly exhausted. He and Naruto had first fought off those twin ninja with the chain, then walked a few hours to get to the land of waves, fought against Zabuza, and then carried their unconscious teacher through the backstreets.

Still though, he did want to talk with Sakura, learn how she felt about all this stuff. She was one of his friends, and someone he treasured deeply. Seeing her upset wasn't something he cared much for at all.

As sleep took him, the only things he saw were the blazing red eyes of the Sharingan.

His brothers' eyes.

/-/

Sasuke woke up far quicker than he really wanted to, having slept a measly 4 hours, but he'd have to make do.

Kakashi was awake.

"I'm really sorry about all that, you three." He rubbed the back of his neck a bit sheepishly. "I caused you an awful lot of trouble."

It was a bit awkward for him to hear their teacher apologize, and he squirmed in place.

"Hey, you saved us, so we saved you, right?" Naruto was the first to speak up, smiling brightly as he sat up from out of his bedding. "Seems fair enough to me."

Both he and Sakura nodded at that, turning to face their sensei with smiles adorning their faces.

"Heh, you three… Well, alright. I assume you'll be wanting an explanation for all that?"

"Yep."

"Yeah."

"On the double."

Their teacher laughed; his exposed right eye crinkling as he shook with mirth.

Sasuke was pretty sure he already knew, but it would probably be a better idea to have Kakashi confirm it, which would also mean that he didn't have to speak for a long time. Talking to others for a while was fine, but he'd be lying if he said he enjoyed prolonged periods of interaction.

And so Kakashi gave them exactly the explanation he'd been expecting, that he had received a Sharingan in the past, and that using it exhausted him afterwards. Sasuke had initially tried to ask where he'd gotten it from, but the reaction from the man told him that he'd best not tread any further. It wasn't hostile, but more evasive. It didn't seem, to him at least, that Kakashi had killed anyone to get the Sharingan. He was fairly sure no Hokage would have let him get away with that. It seemed more like guilt that kept him from telling them.

So, he'd held off, and when the man neared the end of his story, the whole group had just about managed to shake off the lingering feelings of exhaustion. Though none more than Naruto, who was back to his usual, boisterous self.

"But man, Kakashi Sensei, you had us worried! We thought you'd been poisoned or something, I mean, you collapsed out of nowhere!" The boy was laughing, but Sasuke could tell that he was just trying to dispel the last dregs of worried energy that still hung around him. It had been a bit disturbing, to see the man almost die twice in one day.

Sasuke felt a bit guilty, he'd held off on sharing his hypothesis about Kakashi's fainting spell, instead leaving the group to stew in uncertainty. He'd have to apologize later, even if he had wanted to hold on to his idea on the off chance he was wrong.

It would have been bad to tell them everything was fine on a theory, only for Kakashi to end up dying from poison.

They talked about this and that, trying to cheer themselves up a bit after their many battles, and subsequent lack of sleep, before they were interrupted by a small, black-haired child.

"Grandpa!" The boy rushed in and hugged Tazuna, who seemed delighted to see him.

"Ah, Inari! I was looking for you earlier, where have you been?"

The boy doesn't say anything, instead pushing his head further into his grandfather's embrace, though the old man doesn't seem to mind, instead relishing in it, laughing boisterously. The young child, Inari, apparently, looked up at them, his eyes darkening.

"Grandpa, who are these guys?"

"Oh, these are the ninja who brought your grandpa some safe, Inari!"

The child stepped away from his grandfather, eyes hard.

"They're all going to die."

At that, Naruto stood up, apparently so stunned he couldn't think to say anything. Sasuke himself felt a bit surprised, even if it was muted. He was able to think back to the photo in the hallway, and the events in his mind started to form a pretty clear picture.

"What? Inari, you shouldn't-"

"What the hell are you talking about, you little brat!" Naruto was in front of the boy now, arms crossed defiantly in front of him. "You see this!? You're looking at certified grade A Ninja right there!"

"You think you can beat Gato!? Hah! Yeah right! No one can, you're all going to die!"

Inari practically flew out of the room, pouting with tears running down his face. The three remaining members of Team 7 had stayed quiet, but Naruto was up on his feet, practically seething.

"I'm sorry about him…" A woman walking into the room spoke up, looking downcast. "He's… thing's have been hard for him lately."

The four of them stood silently, not quite sure what to say to that, deciding to simply let the woman continue.

"Ah, my apologies," She held a hand over her chest, bowing slightly. "My name is Tsunami, thank you for taking care of my father."

Sasuke nodded, along with Sakura, and even Naruto seemed to preen a little at the praise, though it didn't last for long, and the boy was back to silently brooding a second later.

"You see…"

/-/

A while later, and one depressing backstory richer, Sasuke stalked up the stares of Tsunami's house. He had, contrary to what he'd told Naruto, come for a reason.

The upper floor was no grander than the lower, but it clearly saw less traffic. There were two bedrooms, one of which was locked up tight. It was that which he'd come for.

He walked over to it and gave it a light knock.

"Hello, Inari? I'm one of the ninjas-"

"Go away."

Yeah, he'd expected that.

"I'd just like to talk to you, I heard about what happened with your father, and-"

"Go Away!"

Forceful, and to the point. The boy just wanted him gone. He just wanted to sit up here and stew and die. Sasuke understood, of course.

This had been him, once upon a time.

So instead of walking away, like he was fairly sure most other people would have, he brought out one of Sakura's hairpins, and brought it to the lock. Picking a lock wasn't an incredibly useful skill, especially in a society where it was often far easier to destroy a locked door than open one, but Sasuke hadn't picked it up for any practical use in the field.

No, instead, he'd picked it up because, as it turned out, you didn't get to be the friend of one of Konoha's most famous pranksters without learning a few tricks.

Honestly, at first Sasuke had thought his own involvement in Naruto's life would result in the boy losing his desire to play pranks, but just like almost all of the other things he'd thought about Naruto, he'd been proven wrong. Instead of a reforming the student, Naruto had instead managed to drag him into all of his pranks. Honestly, his parents would've been furious with him.

He still remembered trying to talk the prankster out of graffitiing the Hokage Monument for a solid 5 or so days, only for the boy to not only convince him to go along with it, but to actively help. As it turned out, he had no actual backbone when it came to standing up to Naruto.

Especially since, most of the time, he didn't want to anyways. Despite what he may have said about him, and the pranks they got up to, he couldn't deny he laughed a hell of a lot more when they were hanging out. Hell, he instigated their pranks on occasion.

He smiled just thinking about it, before focusing back in on the task at hand.

With a soft click, the lock came undone.

"W-what are you doing here!?"

Inari was sat on the bed, his hands trying to cover his tear-ridden eyes from view, sniffling quietly. Seeing it, Sasuke couldn't help but feel a twinge of pity, but also a flash of something else…

Anger.

He didn't let it show, though, because that wouldn't have been fair. It was like remembering old memories about yourself before drifting off to sleep and cringing about how foolish you once were. He felt that same way now. He had wallowed in his misery for 3 months, not doing anything other than walk to and from his apartment and the academy.

But Inari wouldn't have any context for what he'd be saying. Sasuke had been given 3 years to truly get past his grief, and even then, he sometimes didn't feel like he was. The boy in front of him had lost his father only a few weeks ago, the wound was still fresh.

But still, someone needed to help him stand up. It had been Naruto to snap _him_ out of it, but he could still remember the way he'd felt back then. He hadn't wanted help, or at least, he didn't think he'd wanted it. It was only after he was given that help that he realized that he'd needed it, and desperately.

This time, Sasuke was determined to _be_ that helping hand.

"I'm sorry about breaking in, but I felt like we needed to talk."

He spoke calmly, assuredly. He needed to have this conversation, for Inari of course, but also for himself. He felt if he confronted this boy, he'd also be confronting himself at the same time. This might finally let him find the closure he'd been searching for these past years.

"Get Out!"

But boy, was he making this hard.

"I wanted to talk to you about what happened with your father, I know it-"

"Yeah! I heard! Now get out!"

Reeeeeally hard.

Swallowing his annoyance, Sasuke walked to the edge of Inari's bed, despite his continued protest, and sat down upon it, remaining silent for a few seconds as the boy went back to sobbing into his knees, curling into a small ball. The boy's outrage seemed to have exhausted him, for he stopped crying a minute or two later, and looked up at Sasuke inquisitively.

"What do you want?"

"Your father-"

"Yeah, I know that!" Inari growled, hands clenching into fists, before he looked away, shame filling his face. The kid probably wasn't used to being so quick to anger, and it was getting to his mood as well.

_I should know, _Sasuke thought, _I used to have the same problem._

He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, and tried to come up with something to say that wouldn't immediately be met with hostility.

_Well, I could always start with my story…_

_That might work._

He waited a few more minutes, during which Inari started and stopped crying once again, and Sasuke formulated just what he wanted to say. When he was confident enough to speak, he began.

"I won't talk about your father, if you don't want to."

He looked over towards Inari, who didn't look particularly pleased by that, but didn't immediately shout at him either, which was as good a sign he was going to get.

"I'll talk about what happened to me, I suppose. It's why I came up here."

He cleared his throat a bit awkwardly. He knew what he wanted to say once he got into it, but starting was… a little harder.

_I guess I'll just come out and say it._

"3 years ago, my entire clan was murdered on the same night."

That got a response from the boy, who looked up at him in shock and, to his eternal annoyance, pity.

_Kid, you're like eight years old, you don't get to feel bad for me!_

"Wha- who would do that!?"

Sasuke smiled a bit bitterly.

"My brother, actually."

If it was possible for the boy in front of him to get any more shocked, he managed it.

"My brother single-handedly murdered every single member of the Uchiha clan, except for myself." He was getting a bit angry, a bit upset, but he reeled it back in. It wouldn't do for him to yell at Inari when he was supposed to be comforting him, empathizing with him. "He didn't even spare me, just… allowed me to live, because I was so utterly pathetic."

The darkness within him crept up to the surface, and for a brief moment, it was all he knew.

"I was too pathetic to be worth killing."

Naruto and Sakura had, once or twice, asked him why he hated the pity of others so much. It wasn't like it hurt him, after all, it was just people trying to help him get by. It wasn't their fault that they didn't understand, and he never blamed them, either. But the only reason Itachi had chosen to let him live was that he hadn't thought him worth the effort. His own psychotic brother had thought him so feeble, so small and weak, that he'd shown him pity in sparing his life.

He didn't want pity from anyone, never wanted it. It had been pride before, but after Itachi, it always felt like he was being attacked when they gave him their charity. He didn't care if they had good reason to want to help him, didn't care that maybe he really did need the help. He hadn't wanted it, hadn't desired it from anyone. They'd forced it upon him, a free meal here, supplementary lessons there, it was just them trying to make themselves feel better, it didn't-

"Uhm, Mr. Ninja, Sir?"

The darkness shrouding his mind parted, just a little. It was enough, however, for him to look and see the boy in front of him, worry written all over his face.

_How long was I spaced out?_

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"No! Don't be!" Inari practically shouted out, before his gaze fell to the bed again, unable to meet Sasuke's eyes. He looked back up a few seconds later, a complicated mess of emotions. "I… I understand that sometimes you… get caught in your own head."

Sasuke's own eyes widened, albeit briefly.

_Well, it's progress._

"But… your own brother." The boy in front of him fiddled with his hands, not quite knowing what to do with them. "I'm sorry, I… I can't imagine what that must have been like."

"You don't have to be sorry, you had nothing to do with it."

Inari nodded, though his energy seemed even more subdued than before. The boy in front of him sat forward a little, sitting cross-legged on his bed now.

"Did my grandfather tell you to talk to me?"

"No, I came because I wanted to."

The boy sighed wearily, with far more pain than any child should have ever had to endure.

He knew the feeling intimately.

"Do you mind if… if I ask you some things?" Inari looked up at him, his eyes free of tears, but still holding a lingering sadness.

Sasuke couldn't help but smile at the effort.

"Sure."

"Does it… do you ever feel any better?" The boy's voice cracked while he spoke, and he looked away from him out of shame.

"You do."

The boy's eyes widened, and he turned to Sasuke with the barest hints of hope in his eyes.

"R-really?"

"Yeah, it's…" It was quite difficult to describe accurately, but he felt he might as well try. "It's not really something you ever fully get over. It's more like… it get's easier and easier, until one day you're just sort of… not fixed, but… better."

Inari leaned in, eyes focused, wanting to hear more of what Sasuke had to say. He couldn't blame the boy, either, he had wanted some miracle cure as well, all those years ago.

"How long does that take? I feel like it's been forever, but," The boy stumbled over his words as tears formed in his eyes, though he sniffled once and dispelled them. "But I don't feel any better at all. It feels like… like it only just happened yesterday."

He remembered walking into the Uchiha district after he'd woken up, walking around streets that used to be so brimming with people that you could barely find anywhere to move. He remembered seeing them barren, with white tape on the ground where bodies had been recovered. He had found his aunt and uncle's shop, had seen the white tape inside it. He'd stared and stared at the white tape, that was used to represent someone's final moments. They'd been embracing when Itachi cut them down, knowing it was the last time they'd ever be able to.

He'd found their son as well, the tape in the closet, along with the bloodstain. His parents had tried to hide him, tried to protect him. And Itachi had just slaughtered him too. The boy had been 7 years old.

He remembered walking into his own home, reliving the events of that night over and over again, wondering if he'd been stronger, if he'd trained harder, if he'd done better, if he'd talked to them more, then just maybe the regret pooling inside of him wouldn't have been so agonizing. Deep down, he knew that no matter what, he would have felt that way. He knew, deep down, that it wasn't his fault.

It didn't make it hurt any less. It felt like empty words he told himself, empty words the therapists threw at him as they tried to get him back on his feet. Even they had never dealt with a case quite so grisly as his.

"I don't know how long it takes to feel better."

"W-what?" Inari looked desolated with the news, but Sasuke continued before he could get another word in.

"I don't remember when it happened. It wasn't something that I noticed or could identify. I don't think I truly realized that I felt better about it until… probably a year or so afterwards."

Inari blanched, looking downtrodden as his eyes fell.

"A whole year?"

"It took me a year to realize, not a year to feel better." Sasuke put a hand on the boy's shoulder, propping him up a little. "But I will let you in on a little secret."

"What kind of secret?"

"It's how you could feel better a lot quicker; would you want that?"

The boy looked up at him with no small amount of wonder, eyes wide.

"Y-yeah! How do I do that?"

Sasuke smiled, looking down at the hopeful boy before him, hoping that he would present some magical cure-all for the problems he faced. It was a cure, surely, but it wasn't going to be easy like he hoped.

"What really helped bring me out of my drought," He gestured back towards the door of the room, and downstairs, where several loud cries could be heard, coming from a certain obnoxiously loud blonde. "Were my friends."

"H-huh?"

"Around the time I met Naruto, I was stewing and festering in my own hate. I had been for months already. I needed something to break me out of it, needed to feel a bit better about who I was and what had happened. And then that idiot came stumbling down a hill, and I helped him up." Sasuke stood up off of the bed, walking around it and over to the door, resting his hand on the doorknob. "We talked about nothing at all, most of the time, but it was something different. It kept me out of my head, kept me focusing on the real world. By the time I thought about it, I realized I wasn't even all that sad anymore. It was just a lingering feeling, like a scab that's still healing a few days after a cut."

Sasuke looked back towards the boy, smiling a bit embarrassedly.

"He saved me, even if I'll probably never admit it to him."

Inari looked dumbfounded, and a little angry, like he'd been tricked into getting one of his grandfather's lectures. He had been, truthfully, even if it wasn't his grandfather who'd come up with it.

That didn't change the truth, though.

"I think your mother and grandfather just want to help you." He smiled knowingly, because he could tell that Inari knew that, deep down. He had never doubted that for a second, he just didn't want to hear it. "And I think you'd feel a lot better if you let them."

And with that, he opened the door, and walked out.

Or he would have, if not for the voice that shouted "Wait!"

Sasuke turned back, a bit confused, and was nearly knocked over as the boy tackled him into a hug, Inari's face buried in his shirt.

"I-I'm sorry for yelling at you… I wasn't… I'm not-"

"I know." He smiled affectionately at the boy, his face lighting up. "I was there once, too."

"Thank you." He mumbled back.

"Will you come have dinner with your family, later? I think they'd love to see you."

The boy didn't say anything, but he did nod into his chest, sniffling once or twice, before he backed away, sitting back down on his bed, and giving Sasuke as bright a smile as he could manage.

"I'll try."

Sasuke smiled back, feeling a small weight leave his shoulders.

"That's all I ask."

He stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him.

/-/

Sasuke gave a quiet "Thank you" to Tsunami as the woman set a plate in front of him. It was scarce, but it would be enough for a full meal. He'd have never asked for more, either, knowing just how poor this country, and the people who lived in it, truly was.

Naruto and Sakura sat beside him on his left, arguing loudly about something or another, though they clearly weren't actually mad at one another. There was too much passion in their words, and not enough anger. Upon listening in further, Sasuke discovered they were talking about Ramen, of all things, and found himself laughing.

Naruto's favorite hangout spot had become a favorite of all of theirs, and Sasuke could say with fair certainty that Ichiraku was the best Ramen place in Konoha.

Still though, as he listened to their argument, he couldn't help but scoff at how idiotic it was.

"You know that shoyu is better, I don't even know why we're having this discussion!" Sakura shouted out, looking for all the world like she may snap and kill Naruto.

"Miso is way better than the your crappy shoyu! Don't get mad at me just because your taste buds don't work!" The boy fired back, standing up on his chair and pointing at the girl.

Tsunami leaned in next to him, smirking amusedly.

"Are they always like this?"

"Ooooh yeah."

The woman laughed.

"I'm sorry, then." She spoke as she walked away, smiling to show she meant no ill will, and headed back into the kitchen to finish bringing everything out.

Honestly, his friends could be so embarrassing sometimes.

It was obvious that tonkotsu ramen was superior to all other kinds. He wasn't even sure why the idiots bothered arguing about something so basic.

"Ah, you're all here already!" Tazuna stepped in, wobbling a little bit, and Sasuke couldn't help but notice the man's reddened cheeks.

"Father, I told you to lay off drinking while we have guests here!" Tsunami spoke quietly, probably trying to keep them from hearing her, though her annoyance caused her voice to carry a bit further than intended.

"Ah, did you? Oh! That's right, you did!" He brought his daughter into a tight hug, laughing wildly. "I'm sorry, Nami-chan!"

"Don't call me that!" The woman squirmed, looking back at the three of them and going red in the face at seeing they were trying not to laugh. "Get off me!"

With one final push, the drunken man stumbled off of her, stepping to the side and burping as he practically fell into his chair, laughing all the while.

And then, suddenly, all sound in the room simply stopped as Inari walked in.

He nodded embarrassedly to his grandfather and mother, both of whom seemed a bit stunned, and took the seat to Sasuke's left. It had been, up until that point, Kakashi's seat, but it seemed their teacher, who was just then walking back into the room, understood that something important must have been going on, and decided to take the seat at the end of the table, next to Naruto, instead.

Every eye in the room was on Inari, who fidgeted a little under the scrutiny. Then, after taking a small breath, the black-haired boy looked up at all of them.

"Uhm… I'm sorry, you all." The boy bowed his head slightly, and Sasuke didn't think he'd felt this proud since Naruto won his first spar against him. "I-I haven't been… that is… I-"

Sasuke put a hand on his shoulder, smiling and nodding approvingly.

"You don't need to do it all right now, just… baby steps."

Inari looked relieved, nodding back to him, and then looked towards his mother and grandfather.

Tsunami's smile shone, her eyes watering slightly, as she made her way over to her son, embracing him tenderly.

"You have nothing to apologize for."

The boy in her arms hiccupped once, then a second time, then broke down crying, hugging his mother tightly. He pushed his head into the crook of her neck and sobbed.

"Welp," Kakashi spoke up, eyeing the three of them. "I say we get some training in before the sun sets, how about you guys?"

"But Sensei," Naruto spoke up, looking aghast. "we haven't eaten-"

"I think that's an excellent idea, Sensei." Sasuke spoke up, standing and giving Kakashi a thankful nod.

"Yes, that sounds grand." Sakura stood up as well, dragging Naruto by the back of his collar and out of the back door.

Kakashi followed behind them, smiling despite the blonde-boys protests, with Sasuke holding up the rear. He looked back in and saw Tazuna trying to meet his eyes. The man gave him a warm smile, bowing slightly, and mouthed 'thank you.'

Sasuke smiled back, before walking outside.

/-/

It wasn't a particularly cold evening, given that it was middle of the summer, but Sasuke still felt himself shivering.

It probably didn't help that they were covered from head to toe in water. Kakashi's excuse of training had, apparently, been serious. He'd told them that now was as good a time as any to practice tree climbing. Unfortunately for their Sensei, all three of them (well, he and Sakura, Naruto was having some problems) had been able to manage the technique with very little difficulty. They'd asked for something that was an actual challenge.

The man had laughed sadistically, and then told them he had another thing for them to practice. He was going to teach them to water-walk.

In hindsight, they'd probably had that coming.

It had sounded like such a great idea at the time, too. They were surrounded on all sides by water, it made sense to use it.

Kakashi had tried, really, really hard to not laugh at them as they'd all fallen in the chilly water. He had also failed, and quite miserably at that, to the point that Naruto had given up on water-walking and decided to try and beat up their Sensei instead. The man in question had taken the attacks in stride, lecturing him and Sakura while avoiding the blonde's blows. He'd said that it needed to be instinctual, you couldn't will yourself to do it, or that, if you were forcing yourself, then being attacked or having something else take your attention would cause you to sink immediately.

It made sense, even if Sasuke had to admit that begrudgingly, given that he was now soaked, as were the rest of Team 7, walking along with him as they tried to dry themselves off with the far-too-small towels they'd been given.

Naruto sneezed, and the sound echoed in the calm night. In the distance, the trees shook lightly with the wind, creating a relaxing ambience for their journey back towards Tsunami's house.

"Get your gross, sneezy face away from me!"

Well, it would have been relaxing, if not for his teammates, who continued to argue about anything and everything they could possibly come up with.

"Who the hell you callin' sneezy!? You've been sneezing this entire time!" Naruto shot back with an annoyed yell.

As if on cue, Sakura herself sneezed into her elbow, shooting the blonde boy an annoyed look as he faked a laugh at her misfortune.

"G-guys?" Sasuke spoke up, eyes narrowed and teeth chattering as he looked over at the two following him, having fallen behind over the course of their bickering.

"What!?" They both responded, turning to face him at the same time.

"Could we like… not right now?"

Both of them grumbled lightly, looking annoyed with him, but decided to finally be quiet, and allow him to get some time to think.

His talk with Inari had not, unfortunately, been the ultimate answer to all of the doubts he carried. That was a shame, certainly, but nothing he hadn't expected. He'd only managed to get past his darkness thanks to his friends, along with being given a few years to fully heal.

Despite the boy not wanting to hear it, time really was the only cure for what he was going through. It wouldn't erase the pain, not completely, but dull it enough that you could sometimes forget, push it to the back of your mind and move past it. As much as you could, anyways. You'd start to remember the good times more, remember those you lost, and be able to hold them with you as you went forward.

_At least, that's probably how it is for most people_.

For him, He could never quite forget about them, those piercing red eyes. Eyes that didn't even see him, but past him. Towards what, Sasuke didn't know, but he did know what his brother had told him that night, that he had killed his entire family, every single one of them, just to test his strength.

No matter how long it took, no matter how large the gap between them, and no matter the friendships he'd made along the way, there was one thing that stood in Sasuke's heart to this very day.

He would kill Itachi.

Once upon a time, he might have said 'whatever it takes' as well. He might have been willing to do just as Itachi had done and killed his best friend for his vengeance. But as he turned around and looked back towards the pair quietly arguing behind him, trying to stop him from hearing them, he couldn't quite stop himself from laughing.

_I will kill Itachi, _Sasuke thought, _but I'd never hurt them to do it._

And perhaps, to someone so broken as his brother, such a thing would be considered a weakness, something to be abused. Perhaps one day, Sasuke would pay for the bonds he had obtained.

As he contemplated this and that, he turned to face forward once more, smothering a laugh as Sakura sneezed directly into Naruto's face as they argued, and noticed that they'd arrived back at Tsunami's.

"Guys," Sasuke called out, silencing the two people arguing behind him. "Let's stop arguing for now, you can pick this up tomorrow."

He opened the door with the key they'd been given and stepped inside the small house.

There was no sign of Tazuna, Tsunami, or Inari, and for just a second, Sasuke feared the worst.

He held up a hand behind him, and instantly all chatter from his teammates ceased. The two could go from casual to business in half a second or less, and he loved that about them. Well, Sakura could, Naruto was still bright orange.

His worries were assuaged a few seconds later though, as the trio snuck their way up the stairs, and pushed open the master bedroom door.

It was to find Tsunami, Tazuna, and Inari, all cuddled around each other, sleeping soundly.

There were tear tracks going down all three of their faces, evidently a much-needed talk had been had. Even still, Sasuke couldn't help the easy smile that came to his face, as he stepped back out of the room and began to make his way back down the stairs.

"Aw, that's cute!" Naruto said, just a little too loudly, something he tended to do.

"Shh, don't ruin it." Sakura chided a second later.

They made their way down the stairs a little after Sasuke did, and all three got to work with fully drying themselves off. After they'd done that, and changed into their only spare outfits, which looked suspiciously like all their other outfits, they laid down on their futon's, and chatted about the day's events.

It was a fairly meaningless talk, definitely not like the one that he and Inari had had upstairs. Kakashi came back around half an hour later, having said that he'd be gathering information at night, and checking on the bridge they'd be watching over. He gave them an extremely basic rundown, before falling into his own futon. He was asleep within a minute.

"We should probably follow his lead." Sakura spoke up, smiling at each of them as she laid back, pulling a small blanket around her.

He and Naruto followed suit a while later, giggling to themselves over some dumb joke the prankster had made a second before.

It was, perhaps, a weakness. All of this, Sasuke knew, could and most likely would be used against him in the future, when he and Itachi finally clashed. Still though, as he looked at Naruto's face, crinkling in laughter and holding a hand over his mouth to smother the noise…

He knew what he'd have to do.

If Itachi wanted to attack him with the things he cared about the most, then Sasuke knew he'd have to be prepared. He'd need to grow stronger, far stronger than he was right now.

He thought of his mother, as warm and caring as a person could be. He thought of his father, rough and stern, but loving in his own way. He thought of his aunt and uncle, always greeting him on his way to school. He thought of all the others who'd been killed just because his brother had been **bored**.

He hadn't failed, he knew that. Even if he had been as strong as his father, it wouldn't have mattered, but he did know one thing.

He would never allow that to happen again.

He looked towards Kakashi, their leader and mentor, who laughed and joked with the best of them, even with the pain behind his eyes. He looked towards Sakura, their teams heart and soul, sleeping soundly. He looked towards Naruto, on the cusp of sleep, with a residual smile still present on his face.

These three, well more Sakura and Naruto, but Kakashi to a lesser extent, meant the world to him. So, he knew what he had to do. He knew what he'd dedicate it all to. Why he'd train day in and day out.

For them, so that when he faced Itachi, that man couldn't hurt any of them.

He'd become so much stronger than that man ever would. He'd become more than the rival his brother desired.

His fist clenched below the blanket.

"I'll protect you all." He whispered quietly.

Though apparently not quietly enough, for Naruto rolled over and faced him, looking curiously at him.

"You alright, Sasuke?" The boy's eyes were lidded, and he looked like he was already half asleep.

"Yeah, I'm just… thinking about some stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

"Personal stuff." The Uchiha spoke, trying to put an end to this before the boy in front of him could dig any deeper.

"Want to tell me about it?"

As per usual, however, Naruto wasn't the greatest at picking up on social cues.

Or, the boy knew just how to read him, as he tended to do.

_He's always perceptive when I don't want him to be._

Sasuke smiled at the earnest expression on the boy's face, ready to wake himself up and have a conversation that he probably didn't want to have, all so his friend could feel a little better.

He sighed, knowing that when Naruto was like this, it was often far better to go along with what the boy wanted.

"I was… thinking about my brother."

The boy opposite him didn't go silent as he might once have, he simply nodded and let Sasuke continue. He'd told his friend about that night a year or two back, leaving out some parts here or there that he was either too disturbed to think about or too disgusted to remember.

"He told me that in order to get strong like he had, I'd have to… to kill my closest friend."

That got a reaction from the boy, thought it wasn't the aversion or disgust he'd expected, instead the boy sat up in his futon, now fully engaged in the conversation. Perhaps he understood, without Sasuke having to tell him, that he'd never do such a thing.

"I never would. I'll grow stronger my own way, but…" He was having a hard time finding the words for what he wanted to say, fumbling around a bit. It didn't help that this wasn't a particularly happy topic.

"Wait a second," Naruto gave him a wicked smile, a teasing expression fit on his face. "If you're telling _me _this, doesn't that mean…"

The boy scooted over to him.

"That I'm your closest friend?"

Color rushed into his cheeks, and he looked away from the boy in front of him, swatting at him with his left hand.

"It does!" Naruto spoke, far too loudly for how late it was.

"Oh, shut up! I don't know why I tell you these things!"

"Do you hear that, everyone!?" Naruto leaned back, nearly shouting now. "Sasuke Uchiha actually likes me!"

"Alright fine then," he jumped over and tackled the boy, wrestling with him on the floor. "I guess I _will _kill you after all!"

"Psht, you couldn't kill me," The boy grunted out, pinning Sasuke to the floor as they continued to grapple. "Not in a million years! I'm too tough!"

"Yeah!? We'll see about that!"

"Guys, what the hell are you doing?" Sakura spoke tiredly, sitting up out of her futon and yawning, looking towards them annoyedly. "I'm trying to sleep, could you guys not do this right now?"

"Sakura! You won't believe this!" Naruto chattered as Sasuke tried desperately to fuse the boy's face with the ground. "I'm Sasuke's closest friend!"

Sakura looked at them both with a deadpanned expression, seeming far too tired to have to deal with this crap.

"I'm going back to sleep. Wake me up again and I'll kill you both." The pink-haired girl laid back down, though Sasuke couldn't tell if she was actually asleep.

As their wrestling match winded down, with Sasuke winning, of course, the two settled back into their beddings, pulling their blankets around them.

"Hey Sasuke?" Naruto spoke up, looking over at him from his sleeping bag.

"Yeah?"

"I just wanted you to know that you're my closest friend too."

Curse that dumb boy and his dumb face. Curse his own reddening cheeks and curse his sentimental heart.

"And I want you to know, that no matter what happens," The boy gave him that sun-like smile, which seemed to blot out the dark of the world. "I'll trust you with my life."

"So would I." Sakura spoke up quietly, not facing either of them, but having clearly listened to their conversation.

"B-but I might… the darkness inside-"

"Nope, you're my friend." The blonde looked him dead in the eye, as if being his friend was all that mattered in the world.

Somehow, Sasuke thought that, come the very end of the world, Naruto would honor that.

"You're _our _friend." Sakura chided, looking annoyedly at the blonde-haired boy. "And that means you're stuck with us."

Sasuke couldn't quite hold in his mirth. He chuckled once, twice, and then devolved into a fit of laughter. He rolled on the floor, even as his two friends giggled to themselves as well, all semblance of quietness gone.

After a minute or two of that, he finally tuckered himself out, arms splayed out around him, smiling lightly.

"Thank you, guys."

"Hey, what are friends for, right?" Naruto said, as he rolled back into his futon and shot him a thumbs up. "Alright, I'm tired. Night."

"Oh, so when you want to sleep, the conversation ends, but when it's me, you just keep on going, huh?" Sakura scolded; eyes narrowed as she reprimanded the boy for keeping her awake all this time.

He let them argue themselves asleep, or, more accurately, he let them argue until Kakashi finally decided to stop feigning sleep and reprimanded them, telling them to go to bed. During that time, he couldn't help but smile peacefully. The day's events were finally getting to him, as he yawned into the back of his hand, snuggling up as best he could with his comically small blanket.

He felt just a little warmer than he had yesterday.

Sleep hit him a few minutes later.

He dreamt of kinder days, his mother and father's faces filling his mind.

And for once, no piercing red eyes interrupted.

**End Chapter 6**

* * *

**I went through like, 3 or 4 different versions to the ending of this chapter, but ultimately decided that they were far too melodramatic. Sasuke doesn't need to have a life-changing revelation every chapter, sometimes he can just feel nice.**

**Next chapter will be mostly plot, Haku and Zabuza and all that. This arc won't last too terribly long, I should have it done within 2 or 3 chapters.**

**Alright, see you guys next week.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Super happy chapter.**

**Without further ado, let's do this.**

* * *

**Chapter 7: What Lies Within**

* * *

The first thing Zabuza felt upon waking up was pain, which was fairly surprising, given his tolerance to the stuff.

He sat up slowly, making an effort to not aggravate the wound on his abdomen.

He failed, of course, he'd never been the most delicate of people, especially not when it came to his own body. Idly, he poked and prodded his bandaged chest, and was rewarded with a dull ache.

_Those damned kids._

He'd forgotten, back then, that even a Genin could kill you if you let your guard down. It was one of the first lessons he'd learned, back on the battlefield of the Third Shinobi World War, when his entire squad of Mist Jonin had been wiped out by some prodigy from the leaf village.

And honestly, he shouldn't even have been going easy on them, one of them had used the Shadow Clone Jutsu, and summoned more clones than most Jonin ever could.

And yet, even after seeing that, he just hadn't been able to bring himself to strike them. Because they'd reminded him of Haku.

Haku was a weakness, _his _weakness.

Despite it all, though, Zabuza just couldn't bring himself to want to be rid of him. Pragmatically, he knew that the boy was holding him back, had been for several years now. they'd been slower in evacuating the Mist village, losing more people in their escape, because of him. They'd had to camp more often, the young boy being quickly exhausted, because of him.

And even now, Zabuza couldn't strike down a couple of easy targets, targets whose lives were worth more than their weight in gold, because of him.

Ostensibly, he kept Haku around to nurture a useful tool. If that tool were only going to get in the way, however, then perhaps he should be rid of it.

The sound of quiet, rhythmic breathing shook him out of his own head, and he turned towards the sound of the noise, unconsciously raising his guard. He wouldn't make the mistake he'd made yesterday again.

But all he found when he looked beside him was the resting form of his pupil, Haku.

The boy was asleep on a small stool that he'd pulled up beside Zabuza's bed, and he was slumped forward, like he'd fallen asleep without meaning to. His eyes widened, and he felt a surge of guilt course through him.

Haku had waited for him. He'd gotten him out of harm's way, carried him all the way back here, bandaged and nursed his injuries, and then stayed awake for as long as he could, hoping that he'd wake up.

And he'd been thinking about whether or not to throw him out.

Without even really thinking about it, Zabuza reached over and lightly shook the boy's shoulder. Haku awoke with a start, gasping lightly. His pupil looked down at him, eyes wide with barely concealed panic, before he saw his face, and sighed in relief.

"Mr. Zabuza, you're awake."

His eyes were rife with bags, and his face looked a bit too pale to be considered healthy. Still, the boy's smile seemed to cut into his own heart, rending him before he could so much as say a word. He'd thought about ridding himself of that smile, of this boy.

He reached over and placed his hand atop Haku's head, lightly ruffling the boy's hair. His student tensed, unused to such a soft gesture. Despite himself, the boy leaned into it slightly, even as Zabuza pulled his hand away, letting it fall back down at his side.

"Thank you, Haku."

He didn't watch at his pupil while he spoke, instead fixating his gaze on a small spot on the ceiling, which he idly noted would probably need repaired soon.

As he looked over his student, though, Zabuza noticed that the boy was blushing intensely, looking down at the floor and unable to meet the assassin's own eyes. Something about the whole scene amused the man, and despite not really meaning to, he ended up laughing uproariously. Haku stared at him oddly, a bit confused, even if he was smiling unknowingly.

As he calmed down, he looked back over at Haku, looking like the world's most confused puppy dog, and barely managed to keep himself from laughing again.

"Gods," Zabuza spoke, still chuckling under his breath, before ruffling the boy's hair one last time. "You're an odd one, Brat."

He hadn't thought it possible, but somehow the boy managed to look even more confused at that.

"Uhm…" The boy spoke like he wasn't quite sure what to say, or even if he truly knew what had been said to him. "Thank you, Zabuza sir?"

The kid peered at him quizzically, and then started to examine his head methodically.

"What're you doing?" The rogue ninja questioned with no small amount of mirth.

"Checking for any head injuries." Haku explained calmly, his face completely serious. "You aren't acting quite like yourself, I just want to make that I didn't miss anything."

The assassin couldn't help his laughter that time, and as the boy continued to grow only more and more concerned, it only got worse. When he finally settled down, it was to see his pupil looking at him with eyes that were both worried and bemused.

"Sir, is… are you alright?"

He was, at this point, already laughed out, and was able to hear the raw concern in the boy's voice.

"I'm fine, Haku," He spoke seriously, with no hint of trickery. "No need to worry so much."

The boy seemed to disagree, but otherwise kept silent. Instead, he pulled his stool closer to the foot of the assassin's bed and seemed content to sit there again while Zabuza rested.

"Oh, no." He began, pointing towards the other bed in the room with his left hand. "Go to sleep."

"B-but sir, I'm fine-"

"No, you're not, Brat." Zabuza looked straight at him, trying to make the boy flinch and look away, which he did a second later. "Tell me honestly, how long were you awake waiting for me to wake up?"

The boy knew not to lie to him but had apparently figured out that it still counted as telling him if he mumbled it into his sleeve.

"What was that?"

Haku looked up at him guiltily, twiddling his thumbs.

"T-twenty-six hours…"

The man sighed.

"Sleep, now."

The boy seemed ready to protest, looking up at him with one of the first indignant expressions Zabuza thought he'd ever seen on him.

"Someone needs to keep watch, Zabuza sir!"

"I'll be keeping watch, Brat." At that, his pupil looked to want to complain again, but he cut him off before he could. "And if anyone does come, I'll wake you up."

The boy slumped slightly, and much like a shark that stopped moving for too long, he seemed to lose all of the vigor he'd had a few seconds ago, practically falling into the bed behind him.

"Alright, sir." The boy gave him a tired smile that looked sloppily plastered onto his face. "I trust you."

Zabuza felt a lot like he'd been kicked in the stomach as his student fell asleep mere moments later.

_'I trust you.'_

He'd actually thought about getting rid of this boy. It hadn't been a serious thought, not one he'd allowed for very long, but he'd certainly considered it for a moment.

The only truly good thing he'd ever found, and he'd thought about throwing him away for… for what? Power? Efficiency? Money?

In that moment, as he sat up in his bed, all alone with his thoughts, he recalled when he'd slaughtered hundreds on innocents in his academy exam. He recalled when he'd murdered comrades for stepping just slightly out of line. He recalled turning on his own Kage and burning the village he'd once thought of as a homeland to make his escape. And yet still, it was almost funny…

He didn't think he'd ever felt quite this disgusted with himself.

He didn't have long to feel sorry for himself, though, as their door was practically broken down a few minutes later. Zabuza made to wake his pupil but found the boy already up and at the ready, looking exhausted but prepared.

Their focus didn't even dull upon seeing who walked in, even if he was their boss at the moment, neither of them had any inclinations of trust towards the man.

Gato didn't exactly inspire loyalty.

"Well, seems you've been getting your ass handed to you." The richest man in the Mist stepped into their small abode, flanked by two armed guards, who Zabuza noted with some amusement seemed to barely qualify as Genin level.

His amusement died an ugly death a second later, as Haku made to rise at the man's baiting, a snarl on his face. It was only his own hand on the boy's shoulder that stopped him, and he gave him a curt shake of the head. It wouldn't do for them to anger the man, not with the state they were in.

Not as if he could have them killed, he could've sent his entire private army after them, and they would've been able to get away. It was more that they couldn't afford to lose this job on something so asinine as barbed words.

They'd already failed once, that much was obvious from their conditions, along with the bridge-builder's continued existence. They needed to be calm, focused, prove they could get the job done.

Didn't mean Zabuza himself didn't growl a little as the small speck of a man sneered in their direction, and when his pathetic henchmen did the same.

"You'd do well to control your pup, Zabuza," He stepped a little closer, dangerously close to Haku, more than close enough for the boy to end the man's life with on no more than a whim, but they all knew he wouldn't. "I don't pay you to fail, but I don't think you'll be paid at all if you're dead."

Perhaps the man truly thought he could have them killed if he desired, and the mirth _that_ thought brought was the only thing that kept him from decapitating the man in front of him with his blade.

Well, that and his current bout of paralysis. Haku's needles had done a grand job of faking his death, but that also meant they made his muscles seize up a bit. He really did need the rest before he could attack Kakashi's crew again.

But Gato couldn't know that, and so he got up, ignoring the sharp pain in his abdomen as he curled into a sitting position, looking the man in the eye with a neutral expression.

"I don't tell you how to handle your men, Gato," He spoke calmly, evenly, in as clear a display of strength as he felt he could muster. "Do _not _tell me how to handle mine."

Dealing with people like Gato had become something of second nature to Zabuza. He'd been at the mercenary game for a while now, and you didn't get to do that without meeting some unsavory customers, seeking even more unsavory work. Those people wanted to flaunt their power in your face, say without saying that they were the bigger man, and you were a pawn.

But if you wanted respect, you had to stand right up with them. Gato had learned a few things about him in their earliest encounters, but easily the most important lesson he'd been taught was that Zabuza wasn't to be trifled with.

And that was crucial, because now, even when he was at his very weakest, in an easy position for Gato to perhaps sell his location to those leaf ninja, he didn't dare make a move against him. The man knew to fear him, but also knew, via reputation, that the assassin got the job done. He'd give him a second chance, both of them already knew that.

This whole thing, the taunting, the baiting, was just this pathetic man trying to make himself feel a little bigger, make himself feel powerful against someone he would normally never be able to contest. It was just ceremony, so that he could look good in front of his men. Zabuza himself was content to allow it, mostly because the man paid well.

It certainly made it easier to cope with the man practically spitting in his face.

Haku was struggling a bit, though.

"That'd be because my men are well trained." Gato smirked maliciously, walking over to his pupil and standing at his full height, which was probably less than a meter. His men behind him were the only thing that kept him from looking like a joke, and even then it was only just. "They aren't animals I picked up off the street."

_Deep breaths, _Zabuza had to remind himself. _He'll be gone in a minute, and you can do your job._

Still, best to accelerate this little farce, rather than risk his, or Haku's anger, getting to them.

"Why are you here, Gato?" He kept his voice as collected as he could manage, which was difficult as his left hand continued to push Haku back into his bed, preventing him from standing and making a scene. "If you're worried about us leaving the job, don't be, we'll attack again in a day or two."

The man seemed to think as hard as he could, which Zabuza reckoned wasn't particularly hard at all, and concluded that he wasn't being lied to. He harrumphed loudly, probably annoyed that he couldn't feel all big and strong today, and stepped back towards the exit.

"One to two days, correct?" Gato turned one last time, eyes squinted as he looked at the two of them.

"We'll get it done."

The man stepped outside, his guards following him a few seconds later, though not without shooting them one final barb.

"Do not fail me again! I have more than enough resources to bury the both of you!"

Gato's men slammed the door behind them, cracking the frame a bit.

Silence fell upon the two of them, and Zabuza realized a second or two later that he was still pushing his pupil into his bed, trying to keep him from lashing out. He removed his hand, still reeling a bit from how he'd thought about the boy earlier.

"Sir, why do we have to deal with people like that?"

Haku's voice surprised him, and he turned to see the boy gazing at the floor, eyes hard with anger.

"We do it because we need to, Haku." Zabuza said, laying back down, making the pain in his abdomen finally dull. "If we're ever going to kill the Mizukage-"

"Why do we need to do that!?"

His eyes widened as he stared at his student. He'd never heard him shout like that before, nor had he ever heard the boy question his decisions.

"I just…" Haku seemed to come to his senses a second later, and his eyes dulled from their previous state. "I'm sorry, Zabuza sir, I shouldn't be thinking about these things."

"It's fine, Haku, but what-"

"I seem to be feeling faint, sir, my apologies." Haku laid down on his bed, turning away from him, shrouding his face from view.

The boy had never been dismissive before, never acted like this before, and he honestly couldn't see why he would all of a sudden. Still, he was exhausted himself, and dealing with Haku's new mood wasn't helping at all. He resigned to deal with this when the boy woke up.

Upon hearing the boy's breathing become more rhythmic, he sat back into his headboard, not laying down, he didn't trust himself to do that with how tired he was, but simply laying back against it.

He waited a while, fiddling with this and that. Watching for intruders was never a particularly grand thing, unless, of course, you actually got attacked. It was for that reason that it was important, but it still didn't help him now. The only threat he thought they might face had come and gone.

Even still though, as he sat silently, thinking about what Haku had said, and what he was going to do about it, he felt himself grow more and more tired. By the time the boy awoke, he was far too exhausted to bring the boy's outburst back up. He let him take over the watch and laid down.

The only sleep that came was fitful.

/-/

"I'm sorry," Kakashi Sensei seemed, frankly, flabbergasted at what Naruto had just said. "You did what!?"

"I said I used my shadow clones to train with tree climbing!" Naruto looked inordinately proud of himself, smiling brightly. "Sasuke thought that I should be more strategic with my clones, think more about when to use them, and how to use them, so I remembered that when the clones die, I get, like… Sasuke what's the word for-"

"Feedback." The boy sighed out.

"Right, Feedback! Anyways I get feedback when they die, and learn stuff," Naruto looked around at the three of them, checking to make sure they were listening. "And most of the time I just learn what it feels like to get stabbed with a sword or something," all of Team 7 grimaced slightly. "But, it did give me this super cool idea!"

Sakura herself was interested, after all, the boy had been off in the woods doing god-knows-what for 3 or 4 days now, she was curious to find out what that was all about.

"I made like… 30 or 40 shadow clones and had them all practice the tree climbing stuff! It was super weird, and I got really tired after doing it," Naruto spoke into the ground, but then smiled widely, looking back up at all of them with a cocky expression. "But I learned how to climb the trees with my chakra!"

Sakura thought that sounded incredibly useful, and extremely over-powered, but decided not to comment about it. She gazed over at Sasuke and found the boy wearing the same mildly-interested expression she was. On the other hand, their sensei looked like he was about to have a heart attack.

"Naruto," Kakashi spoke with a feigned sense of calm, holding his hands over his mouth in a reverent gesture. "After you finished, and banished all of your shadow clones… How did you feel?"

Naruto looked inquisitive, scratching the bottom of his chin, before he responded "I don't know."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I kind of passed out afterwards, so I don't really remember."

Their teacher took a deep breath, exhaling forcefully.

"That would be because what you did should have killed you!" Kakashi practically yelled, exasperated as he panted for breath. Sakura felt some of that herself, upon hearing that their friend probably should've died, all from just a small experiment. "How the hell did you even get your hands on the Shadow Clone Jutsu anyways? It's locked away in the Scroll of Sealings."

The two boys in front of her both coughed, their eyes trying desperately to find anything in the room that wasn't their Sensei.

The man simply sighed.

"Alright, I'm going to pretend I didn't ask that question, and move on to the topic at hand." Naruto and Sasuke both sent the man grateful nods, blushing profusely. "Today we'll be officially commencing our continuous mission of guarding Tazuna on the bridge."

That had Sakura's attention, and that of the other two boys as well. They turned towards their teacher, eyes hardening as they thought of what they may face.

"We'll be doing this on a rotating schedule," Kakashi turned to her first. "Sakura, you'll be watching the bridge with me today, then," He turned towards their resident blonde. "Naruto will be with me the next day, finishing off with Sasuke. We'll then repeat this schedule, every day, until the bridge is completed, and trade between the Wave and the Leaf is finalized, or until the ninja threat this country is facing is dealt with."

He looked each one of them in the eye and then, seeming confident in what he saw there, walked towards the doorway, Sakura just a few measures behind him.

"Alright,"

The man stepped outside.

"Let's do this."

/-/

Guarding a bridge was, in Naruto's opinion, the most boring thing in the entire world.

I mean, he'd done a few D-ranked missions that were more boring, like dog-walking and cat-catching, but those were at worst a few hours long.

He'd been watching this bridge for 8 hours now, and according to Kakashi, it was going to be another 3 or 4 before the workers went home.

_Perhaps this is what hell is like? _Naruto thought, gently stroking his chin, eyes squinting in contemplation.

He had to admit that, as the mist started to roll in, and Kakashi grabbed his shoulder, telling him to be ready for a fight, he was almost glad.

OK, he was extremely glad. Fighting was way more fun than waiting.

Kakashi had filled him and the rest of Team 7 in a few days ago. In the most likely case, Zabuza was alive, and that seeker ninja they'd encountered was helping him. If the two came after the bridge, Naruto was to send a shadow clone to alert the two still at Tsunami's to send 1 person for backup.

He did just that, making the shadow clone sign and summoning a second copy of himself. The other him nodded, and dashed off of the bridge, making his way into the winding streets of the Wave.

As he turned around, ready to face combat, it was to see his teacher already exposing his Sharingan. He didn't want his sensei to put himself at risk with it, but he also knew that, until Kakashi had brought it out, he had struggled against the man they now faced.

Naruto prepared for the battle his own way, summoning 10 shadow clones beside him, and had 3 of them run straight into the oncoming mist.

_Ow, okay, so that's what dying via a thousand needles to the face feels like, _Naruto thought, wincing. _Good to know._

_Oh, and death via giant sword again, awesome._

"Yeah, it's them." Naruto spoke glumly, holding up his kunai in front of him, prepared to deflect any projectiles that may be thrown at him.

"That was smart thinking, Naruto." Kakashi spoke, looking at him with a oddly proud expression, like the man hadn't thought he'd think of that.

"Yeah, uhm, thanks." The blonde spoke awkwardly, looking back at the mist rolling in with a small blush on his face.

It felt good to be smart, to think of things no one else did, and to have someone point it out to you. Whenever he managed to pull a trick on Sasuke in one of their spars that had the other boy reeling, he always felt so happy afterwards. Even when he lost, it felt good to come closer and closer.

It still felt frustrating as all hell to lose, but he'd gotten used to that, honestly.

The whining and screaming about it were purely for aesthetic purposes.

A small needle, almost indistinguishable from the mist it emerged from, whizzed towards him, and he realized with terror that he wouldn't be able to block it in time.

Kakashi batted it aside with the back of his glove, eyes never leaving the encroaching fog.

"Focus, Naruto."

"Y-yeah, will do, Sensei."

Their opponents finally showed themselves a second later.

Zabuza looked exactly the same, though his eyes held a certain expression to them that hadn't been there last time, and Naruto honestly wasn't sure what to make of it. It wasn't unfamiliar to him, he'd seen it quite a few times in Sasuke before.

It was doubt.

Whatever that was about, however, Naruto didn't know. He couldn't tell if that'd be good or bad for them. The man could all of a sudden be doubting whether or not he should just kill them this time, instead of dancing around them for 20 minutes. If that was the case, then he hoped the man in front of them resolved his issues in a timely manner.

"Kakashi." Zabuza spoke loudly and confidently, almost snarling the name out as he gripped his sword and brought it down upon the bridge below them, cracking it apart at his feet. "I'll offer one last time, give up that man, and you'll all get to leave here alive."

His teacher gave a small chuckle, drawing a small scroll from within his vest and bringing it forth, eyes hardening as he took a battle-ready stance.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible."

The assassin in front of them merely nodded, having already accepted this outcome before he arrived. He pulled his sword up onto his shoulder, gave a quick command to the mask guy, and charged at them.

A second later, the masked man was on him, and Naruto had to deflect the guy's initial assault with his Kunai, letting the momentum of the hit knock him backwards. He spun to a stop a meter or so back, eyeing the man in front of him.

_OK, Sasuke says step one is to analyze my oppone-_

A senbon licked the side of his face, cutting a small incision into his cheek. He paled slightly, just managing to dodge the second one on instinct, before taking a third directly into his shoulder.

Compared to a shuriken, which he'd taken a few of to the chest in his spars with Sasuke, it wasn't anything to mention, but that was like saying a Jonin was nothing in the face of a Kage.

Technically true, but missing the point, it hurt like hell.

Still, he didn't scream or cry, he merely hissed in pain. Now that he was fully focused on the fight, he was able to dodge the next few needles with ease, and even match the man's own kunai with one of his own, knocking both out of the air.

It would have been generous to call it a stalemate, though. He had been losing ground the entire fight so far, and if Sasuke's words were true, which they tended to be, then first impressions in a fight were generally correct, unless the other party had something to shake it up.

Naruto did have something to shake things up, though.

He brought out his hands, forming his signature Shadow clone sign, and grinned as 20 or so copies of himself burst into existence beside him. They charged at the masked man in front of him with reckless abandon, Kunai at the ready.

His plan encountered problems almost immediately.

As it turned out, clones that vanished upon being struck were fairly susceptible to needles, which, while not doing very much damage, were very good at causing slight amounts of pain. The masked man in front of him threw a single senbon for each of his charging clones, killing all of them, and barely breaking a sweat.

That would, normally, have been a problem, and a large one at that.

But Naruto couldn't help the relieved smile that blossomed onto his face, and the man in front of him must've seen it, because he hesitated.

The man didn't notice it, and really, he couldn't be blamed for that.

Couldn't be blamed for the kunai now sticking out of his back, either.

Sasuke landed beside him with a roll, smiling up at him.

"Took you long enough." Naruto spoke with a smirk.

"Hey, you're the one who took so long, that clone was barely trying!" Sasuke tried to sound mad, but seemed unable to manage it, instead focusing in on the opponent in front of them, now wounded.

The masked man laughed.

Which, to Naruto at least, meant that something was about to make their situation considerably worse.

It came in the form of several, meter or so tall ice mirrors, which began to form around them in a dome-like shape. Sasuke made to attack the man in front of them and stop them from forming, but he dove backwards, literally sinking into the reflective surface.

"Secret Technique: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals." The man's reflection walked forwards, though never quite stepping out of the mirror in front of him.

Naruto had a vague sense that he'd heard the voice before but dismissed it. It wouldn't do to dwell on meaningless thoughts during a battle.

Not when their enemy was pelting them with senbon, all from nearly complete safety.

_I'd like to retract my previous statement, _Naruto thought, yelping in pain as a hundred or more needles stuck into his flesh. _These hurt way more than a shuriken._

"He's aiming for pressure points, Naruto." Sasuke hissed out between grit teeth, himself bearing several needles. He seemed to be better at batting the needles out of the sky, though, because the floor in front of the boy was littered with the things. "Cover your face with your arms, but if you can, deflect them."

He wanted to make some comment about that, but honestly couldn't find the energy. It turned out that feeling pain all over your body, extreme, lingering pain, kind of killed one's ability to make jokes.

"Fire style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Sasuke's flames lit up the fog surrounding them, glowing brightly as it burned against the series of mirrors in front of them. Unfortunately, while he sat and channeled it, several senbon embedded themselves into his back. The boy stumbled slightly, but didn't relent in his attack, continuing to blast away at the ice sheets that blocked their escape.

When the flames faded, there wasn't a single nick on the ice.

"W-what!?" Naruto breathed out, disbelief, panic, and hopelessness filling his voice. "What the hell do we do, Sasuke!?"

"Calm down!" Sasuke yelled, looking over at him and wincing from the movement, as several of the kunai in his back popped out. Naruto caught him as he staggered slightly, looking around for Zabuza's partner.

"We need to think," His best friend looked up at him, analyzing the situation. "Can you use your shadow clones, and get a few of them out of this… try and break it from the outside?"

"Tried already, the needles get rid of them instantly."

As if on cue, another round of the senbon's rained down on them, and Naruto shielded his friend from them, even as a few hundred of the things impacted his back. It was his turn to nearly fall, and be held up by his friend, who had recovered enough to stand solidly.

"These things don't do much damage, but they wear us down." The boy looked around, eyeing for anything that would get them out of their predicament. "I-I… Naruto do you have any ideas?"

"N-no!"

He was panicking now, he knew that. It was hard not to, honestly. He spawned as many shadow clones as he felt he could muster and had each and every one of them charge towards the icy walls, trying to hit them.

Every single one of them was cut down.

Another round of senbon, more wounds on his body. He wasn't all there, anymore. He could tell, because he was honestly considering just screaming and falling into a ball on the ground. Really, what damage would that do. None, right? Maybe it was just better to give up.

A second later, something big whizzed by them, and Naruto felt the first extreme pain of the fight so far. He yelled loudly as something tore a chunk out of his shoulder.

"What the hell was that!?" Naruto screamed out, looking all around for whatever had just struck them.

"That boy!" Sasuke shouted, eyes moving a mile a minute as he scanned their surroundings, desperately searching for the masked man they were fighting. His answer came a second later, however, as Naruto vaguely made out a human-like shape blur past his friend and shouted the boy's name as blood pooled onto his shoulder.

A kunai was embedded into it.

"I-I…" Sasuke coughed, looking around, before, to Naruto's immense surprise, he smiled. "I could see him."

"What?"

"I could follow him, with my eyes." His friend was panting, but there was no denying the rush of hope they both felt. If they could track the masked man, then maybe they could start fighting back against him.

"I have a plan, Naruto, but it's not a great one."

"I'll take anything at this point."

"I'm going to hit him with a kunai at the exact moment he emerges."

Naruto felt like that was, perhaps, a pretty terrible plan, but couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Alright, what do you need me to do?"

"Look for any patterns." Sasuke spoke, voice becoming calculating, eyes scanning for anything and everything. "How often does he charge at us, how many mirrors does he cross before he charges us, can he move freely between mirrors without penalty, does he always move at the same speed, stuff like that, just little things. It's small but-"

"I got it." Naruto spoke, nodding to the boy in front of him. "You can count on me."

Sasuke gave him a small smile, then placed his back to Naruto's, so that the two of them faced opposite sides of the icy wall.

"He's coming!" Sasuke shouted, and that was the only warning Naruto got before a sharp pain impacted the back of his left shoulder, just a scant few inches from his neck.

_Analyze. Think. It took him two seconds for-_

The masked man charged, and Naruto just barely managed to deflect the kunai in his hand, but he couldn't stop the man from sailing away, back into a mirror opposite them.

_Wait…_

_That could be something._

"I think I have something!"

"Really!?"

"Yeah, try not to sound so shocked!" Naruto shouted, but he couldn't help more hope resurfacing. "I've gotta' be sure, first, though, gimme' one more run!"

"Got you!"

As the man came in for another blow, Naruto anticipated the man's movements.

He was rewarded by a sharp gasp, as he drew a faint line on the masked man's arm. It wasn't a particularly large cut, perhaps slightly deeper than one would get from a piece of paper.

To him, in that moment, it might as well have been the killing blow.

"I've got it! He can only attack in a straight line, and only from his right side! Dodge to the left, and then slash, you'll hit him every time!"

"That was awesome, Narut-"

It was such a small sound, really. It was a whistling noise, that started small, yet in an instant seemed to blot out all the sound in the world.

The man was coming again. Naruto could see it. Sasuke had turned towards him, eyes filled with joy and mirth and hope and pride and a million other little things. He'd looked away from his opponent, just for a second, and now he was going to pay.

He couldn't tell where the Kunai was aimed, but he didn't have the time to figure it out, either. Naruto knew there could be no hesitation, no interim moment if he was going to save his friend.

Without really thinking, he moved.

Blood dribbled down his chin.

The kunai in their opponents hands shook, though the weapon didn't move. It rattled, sure, but it was too deep in to come loose so easily.

Too deep into his own left breast.

Cutting into Naruto's heart.

"Sasuke!" He shouted with every bit of energy he still had, every last fiber of his being as he grabbed the masked man's hand, holding him in place, even as he struggled to break free. Naruto felt that, normally, the man would've been able to pull away with ease. He seemed so much stronger than him.

Perhaps it was ironic, that now of all times, he felt truly strong.

"NOW!"

His best friend didn't waste his chance, digging a kunai out of his shoulder, and stabbing it directly into the masked man's chest.

Their opponent screamed, finally managing to break free of Naruto's hold as he pulled away, inadvertently taking Naruto with him. He felt his body falling forward, unable to hold himself up.

Sasuke's arms caught him. They felt so warm against him; and Naruto felt himself lean into the boy without meaning to.

"N-Naruto?"

He looked up at his friend, wondering what he wanted.

A hot, salty droplet impacted his cheek a second later, rolling it's way down his face. Sasuke was crying openly, his face a complete mess of blood and tears. The boy looked so foreign to him. He had never seen him in so terrible a state.

Idly, he pulled a senbon out of his shoulder, just to see what would happen.

He didn't even feel it.

He thought he vaguely remembered Iruka Sensei telling them that that was a bad sign.

_Oh. _Naruto realized, eyes glazing over as he looked straight into the sky.

_I'm going to die._

"Naruto, c'mon man!" Sasuke was crying, trying to haul him to his feet, but the boy was just too weak from the fight. "You've gotta'- you've gotta' get up."

He felt weak himself. He tried to follow his friend's commands, tried to move a muscle, but found his own body unresponsive. It was so odd to feel like you didn't belong in your own body, like you weren't even really in it at all.

A million and a half thoughts crossed his mind. He saw his life in the village, the children he used to play with, their parents taking them away. The shopping district, being chided, bullied, beaten, screaming about becoming the Hokage, a fox, and meeting Sasuke. He saw Sakura, and Ino, and Iruka. He saw dumb pranks and even dumber kids, just trying to have as much fun as they could. He looked at himself, laughing and messing around with Sasuke as he finished painting the mustache onto the Fourth Hokage's Monument.

"What… What about becoming Hokage, huh?" Sasuke's tears were falling down onto his face, trickling down his own chin. "You need to get up if you want to be Hokage, Naruto, so come on!"

_Damn, _Naruto thought, smiling bitterly, _I feel like an idiot._

He'd never amount to anything in his life. He'd known that from the very beginning, since it all started. Everyone in the entire village had told him that, time and time again. Perhaps, somewhere along the line, he'd grown to believe them.

"I-I… I was never going to… to be Hokage."

If it was possible for Sasuke's face to grow more shocked, more devastated, than it did. The boy's eyes widened, and his eyebrow's drew even higher. He felt bad, he wanted to take back the words he'd said.

_Gods, I want to do so many things differently._

"H-hey Sasuke?" He noted idly that his voice was weaker than he'd meant it to be, coming out as barely a whisper. "C-can you promise me… something?"

"Anything!"

He smiled, and the weight on his shoulders seemed to disappear. He noted, with some semblance of surprise, that the wound on his chest didn't hurt quite so much, but he'd chalk that up to his nerves shutting down.

"I-I want you to… to make your dream come true." He grasped the boy's hand in his own, vaguely surprised at how feeble his own grip felt compared to his friends. "Grow… stronger than your brother… beat him."

"B-but… your dream, being Hokage!"

His vision was filling with black. Sasuke resided in a small portrait, just in the center of it all. Naruto noted with some idle curiosity that the boy's eyes were a sparkling red, with three small, black dots swirling within them.

His Sharingan matched Kakashi's perfectly.

"C-can't do that… Now."

He felt all the pain fade, felt his vision go black.

He was dying.

"Maybe… you… could…"

And with one final breath, Naruto Uzumaki expired in the cold.

/-/

**"Oi, wake up."**

_Or, _Naruto remarked, as he gasped and sat up, finding strength in his arms and legs more than capable of keeping him upright, _Perhaps not._

Upright in… a few inches of water?

_Where the hell…_

**"Look over here, you idiot, you don't have long."**

He did as was asked of him and found-

Naruto screamed, and quite loudly at that.

A giant, reddish-brown fox laid behind giant, rusted steel bars. The beast had red, slitted eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness of the room, and nine tails, that flowed behind him like a river. The whole thing seemed far too big to be conceivably created, and yet Naruto could feel that he wasn't dreaming. He honestly wasn't sure how he knew, it would've made far more sense if this was a dream, some kind of near death hallucination.

But it wasn't. Something in his stomach, the black swirl he'd seen only a few times in his life, told him it wasn't.

He screamed again, just for good measure.

**"Shut up!"**

He did as commanded, feeling like he could be forgiven for listening to a giant, nine-tailed fox demon.

_Wait a second…_

"You're the fox from my nightmares!"

**"Really!? That's what you focus on!?" **The fox actually shook his head, which seemed an oddly human thing to do, before he looked back at him. **"Ugh, never mind. Listen, boy," **The fox placed his head upon the floor of the room, creating a small wave of water that rose about halfway to Naruto's knees. **"You're dying."**

"Uhm…" What was he supposed to say to that? "I know?"

**"I will save you."**

Four words, four very simple words, and yet they carried with them a strange power. With them, Naruto felt hope blossom up into his chest, and some of the lingering pain he felt seemed to disappear.

"Why would you do that?"

**"Because you and I, boy, are connected. You go, I go." **The fox pointed to each of them in turn, his smile becoming sinister. **"Well, I'd reform after a while, but honestly, that sounds like such a trifle. So, I'm cutting you a good deal, you get to live."**

That did sound like a good deal.

Sasuke's advice came back to him, that if a deal seemed to good, that was often because it was.

"What's in it for you?"

The Fox actually laughed.

**"You seem to think you have a choice in the matter."**

Naruto felt power, overwhelming amounts of it, course through him, as the water below him became a faint orange in color, and the surface began to bubble ominously.

**"Luckily for me, you're close enough to death that your bodies' natural desire to live is overwriting any will you might have had. I can pour in as much chakra as your body needs to live before it stops taking it."**

"So!?"

**"So…" **The fox remarked ominously, poking his claw out of the cage, and bringing it to a stop just before Naruto's forehead. Up close, the beast's claw was massive, perhaps the size of him on it's own. **"I get to… let's say… accelerate my plan a bit."**

_Oh good, _Naruto thought, feeling fear course through him, _I was worried you just helped me to be nice._

**"So, get back out there, kid." **The Fox turned one last time, and laid down in his cage, his massive red eye seeming to pierce through Naruto's very soul as it shut slowly. **"Oh, and…"**

**"Do be careful out there."**

/-/

Sasuke was still losing, and the thought filled him with a vitriol hate.

His eyes were runny with horrid, messy tears. Even as his vision seemed to get better and better with each passing second, he felt his eyes blur as well. He couldn't focus, not with what had happened.

Naruto was dead, and it was his fault.

He'd lost focus, looked towards the boy out of pride. He'd watched the look on the boy's face go from happy, to shocked, to determined. He had been completely sure of himself. He'd just thrown his life away, at the drop of a hat, and for what!?

For him!?

He just wanted to scream, he wanted to kill everything in his way right now. He watched in slow motion as the man popped out of the mirror, nursing his abdomen where Sasuke himself had stabbed him, and threw a few senbon at him.

He deflected them, easily, effortlessly. His eyes were _too _good. They didn't even linger on the needles, seeming to almost target them for his hand to follow up. It felt like they'd been locked onto.

The boy himself, however, was just a bit more agile. Even as Sasuke followed Naruto's advice, dodging to the left and slashing out at the mask on his face, scoring a deep line, he found himself unable to go further as a small, icy dagger nearly cut his arm clean off.

He dodged at the last second, feeling rage fill him. He felt his eyes heighten again, see even slower. He felt like he could see each individual piece of ice that fell off the mirrors around him. He had nearly an eternity to himself before the boy attacked again, even if it was only 4 seconds later. He noted that there were exactly 476 senbon on the ground, and 53 still in his body.

He noted Naruto's body move.

_He noted Naruto's body move._

**_He noted Naruto's body move._**

It was subtle, really, just a small shaking in the boy's right hand, but it was still movement. Movement that was impossible.

_Should've been impossible. _

Unless Naruto was alive, of course.

Joy and hope surged through him. If he could beat the ninja in front of him, could defeat him and make it to Kakashi, then maybe he could still save his-

A roaring sound, a noise that Sasuke didn't think could've been created by anything human, seemed to rip the air apart.

The masked assailant, who had been about to attack him once more, stopped in his tracks.

No, he hadn't stopped. He'd been blown backwards from the force of the roar itself. It had had substance to it, pushing the very fog around them away. It had buffeted him back a few inches, even with his stance.

Naruto rose.

Sasuke nearly wept again, rushing over to his friend, completely forgetting about the battle before them.

And then Naruto fell onto all fours, his mouth curling into a snarl.

The thing looked up at him, it's eyed red with hatred, unnatural slits running down the middles, the chakra around it bubbling to the surface in an orange layer that seemed to surround Naruto's whole body, coalescing into a single, orange tail that flowed behind him.

It's gaze pierced him, staring into his very core.

Sasuke saw no recognition in its eyes.

"N-Naruto?"

The creature charged.

**End Chapter 7**

* * *

**Just want to say straight out that no, Sasuke did not awaken the Mangekyou. He did however obtain a three tomoe Sharingan, which may have some slight affect on the plot, I don't know.**

**And yes, this is one-tail, Valley of the End Naruto.**

**The AU of this story truly begins now, after 6 chapters of setup. Good to be here, the rest of this story is going to be pretty weird.**

**We aren't going to suddenly jump off canon, though. Events will still happen in a general order, the one in the show. **

**At least for now, anyways.**

**Anyways, see you next week.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Why hello there.**

**This chapter is pretty much all fighting, which means I had a bit of trouble writing it. I've never been one to read action scenes in Fan-fictions, more-so skimming them for the more dialogue heavy sections, but I can see why they'd be interesting to some people.**

**So, basically what I'm saying is that I think the action in this chapter might be a little bit hard to follow, please forgive me.**

**Anyways, without further ado, shall we get into it?**

* * *

**Chapter 8: The Sharingan's Depths  
**

* * *

A cut to Zabuza's left arm had drastically cut down on it's functions a while ago, and he was fairly sure his right arm didn't have that long either.

He barely dodged one of the ninja hounds' teeth, trying to counterattack and banish it, but was intercepted by another, nearly having his arm ripped off as it bit down. He wrenched it off with all his might, back-stepping several times as he created distance between him and the dogs.

He was losing, and pretty badly at that. He'd underestimated the man in front of him, the Hero of the Sharingan was far stronger than the assassin had thought he'd be.

_And I heard Haku scream earlier._

He had been trying to break away from this fight to help his student for a few minutes now, but Kakashi was nothing if not persistent. It didn't help Zabuza that the man's summons were ruthless, easily keeping up with him at his top speeds, and able to track him by his scent when he disappeared into the mist.

From what he'd seen, he couldn't even kill them either. They'd disappeared into puffs of smoke after he hit them, and after he'd banished a few of them, Kakashi had simply summoned them again.

He was just about to exhaust his last contingency when he heard the roar.

He'd never experienced anything quite like it, a piercing, wailing sound that seemed to split the very air. It launched Kakashi's dogs back several feet, and even briefly stunned both of the Jonin. When Zabuza looked back towards his student's position, it was to see that the fog had been cleared out from the area.

_Well, that's not good._

He could clearly see his student's Kekkei Genkai, which meant that Haku was, thankfully, still alive. They obviously hadn't been able to test it, but they had both theorized that the ice would melt were Haku to be killed.

Unfortunately, it seemed that roar had come from dead center in the middle of the mirrors.

An orange chakra, that seemed to radiate evil around it, filled the air, nearly suffocating Zabuza even from so far away. He dreaded to think what that much power must've been doing to his own student, and so, resigned to the fact that he was about to be getting much more than he bargained for today, ran backwards into the raging storm.

/-/

Haku was in pain in quite a lot of ways, not the least of which was the stab wound directly beneath his sternum.

It also didn't help that he'd killed one of the only people he'd thought was nice in the entire world.

He hadn't known Naruto very long, and in fact their interaction hadn't been a particularly long-winded one, they'd talked philosophy while Haku was gathering herbs for Zabuza's recovery. He himself had said that he lived for his master, whatever the man's intentions, he would always fight for him, and serve him.

Naruto had actually reflected his own philosophy. The boy had said that no matter what, at the end of the day, the only thing he really cared about were his friends. Well, it had been that, and becoming the Hokage, which Haku imagined was probably the Leaf's equivalent to the Mizukage. It was a big dream, but he thought it fit the boy quite nicely.

And then he'd shown just how committed he was to his friends, taking the kunai meant for the black-haired boy with his own body.

He hadn't been about to kill either of them, merely incapacitate them until his master could finish the leader off and assassinate the bridge-builder. At the same time, he could understand how the blonde boy had been unable to read the attack, thus assuming it a fatal blow.

He had nearly cried himself, watching the boy he'd just met die in his friends arms.

Still, he had had a job to do. Zabuza had been clear about one's emotions, they should never be shown on the battlefield, and so he'd been determined to finish the job, to knock the other boy out despite his feelings, and assist his master.

And then Naruto had gotten up.

It had been incredibly sudden, stunning Haku to the point where he'd nearly been killed by the boy he was fighting, having to form an icy dagger in his off hand to deflect the kunai the boy wielded.

And then Naruto had roared. It was far more powerful than anything he'd ever felt in his life. It had hit him with enough force to stop his assault, forcing him back into his own mirrors. The boy below him, the one with black hair and the glowing red eyes, had run over to his friend, looking ready to embrace the boy.

And he'd almost been killed for it, just barely managing to dodge the charging beast that dashed by him, crashing into one of Haku's mirrors as it failed to stop its own momentum.

His eyes widened as the ice shattered instantly.

/-/

Sasuke didn't really know what to feel.

On the one hand, Naruto seemed to be fully recovered, sprinting around the arena, and completely destroying their opponents hidden jutsu. That was certainly an improvement from when they'd been trapped inside a veritable hell of senbon.

On the other hand, Sasuke was fairly sure the boy was trying to kill him.

It was quite clear that something was wrong with his friend, but he had no idea how to approach the situation at all.

"What's going on!?"

Sasuke turned around, shocked at the sudden intrusion into his headspace, to find the masked boy they'd been fighting poking his head out of one of his mirrors. He couldn't see his expression, but figured the boy was just as shocked as he was.

"No idea! And why the hell are you asking me? Shouldn't you be trying to kill me?"

"No offense towards you, but I think that thing is going to kill you far faster than I will."

Sasuke grumbled quietly to himself but couldn't find a rebuttal.

"Yeah, so?"

The boy hesitated.

"I-"

"Haku!"

_Ah, _Sasuke thought, _that's going from bad to worse._

Zabuza Momochi, the demon of the mist, charged forward, swinging his blade in a simplistic arc at Naruto. His friend, if he was even there anymore, didn't bother to dodge. The edge didn't pierce the boy's skin, instead simply knocking the creature back a few meters, landing on all fours with a hissing growl.

"The hell is up with this kid?" The assassin spoke, looking towards Sasuke like he'd have some magical answer.

_Do I look like I know what's going on? _Sasuke thought angrily, fists clenching on his weapons, which he hadn't so much as lowered from the two in front of him. _My best friend's turned into some kind of monster; do you honestly expect me to-_

"Sasuke!"

This time, it was his backup, as 4 or 5 ninja hounds came pouncing onto the scene, forming a protective unit around him. His sensei took the space beside him a second later, eyes hard as he looked from their assailants towards Naruto.

"Shit, Sasuke what happened to Naruto!?"

Their teacher sounded more serious than he had ever heard him before, looking towards him with his Sharingan blazing.

"The masked guy was about to kill me," He noticed the boy, whose name Zabuza had said was Haku, flinch slightly at the accusation. "But Naruto stepped in front of the Kunai instead, and… I thought he died, but-"

"Right, I've got it." Kakashi interrupted, looking appraisingly at the boy in front of them all, who was growling back and forth with the ninja hounds, seemingly in some sort of primal stand-off.

"Sasuke, what I'm about to tell you is technically classified. In reality, it's an open secret that most of the adults in the leaf village know." His Sensei turned towards him. "Naruto Uzumaki is the Jinchuuriki of the Nine-tailed fox."

_…_

_Huh._

"After being fatally wounded, I'm assuming that his body was searching for anything it could find to save him, and winded up taking in some of the Nine-Tails' chakra. He seems to have absorbed far more than should be possible. His seal was supposed to be secure."

_Wait… What?_

"And why are you saying all of this in ear-shot of us?" Zabuza spoke up, drawing his massive blade onto his shoulder, and looking at them suspiciously. "The identity of the Nine-tailed fox's Jinchuuriki could be valuable information to the right people."

"Because right now, I don't even know if Naruto's going to survive this."

Sasuke's face blanched, and his heart skipped a beat. He'd barely been able to follow the past few minutes between the two, going back and forth between themselves, seemingly both sizing each other up and threatening one another all at once.

_But…_

"W-Wait, why wouldn't he survive!? Didn't the Nine-Tails chakra or whatever… revive him?"

Kakashi looked at him with a gentle expression, before his eyes widened, and he pulled him backwards. Just in time, as a chakra claw cut into the space he'd previously occupied, rending the very air with a wave of heat that hit Sasuke's face a second later.

The four of them dodged backwards, barely managing to avoid a few more attacks from the Nine-Tailed-Naruto.

"Go, Kakashi!" One of the Ninja hounds, a small, reddish brown dog, yelled out to his mentor, stepping in front of them with his entourage in tow. "We'll distract this guy, though we've only got a few minutes left before the summon ends!"

"That's fine, Pakkun," Kakashi spoke to the dog, practically carrying Sasuke backwards as they ran away from the creature. "Thank you for your help."

"Eh, no worries, but you'd better buy us some of the good treats after this!"

The dogs all pounced at once, dragging the form of Naruto to the floor. Just for a moment, Sasuke feared that they'd rip the boy apart, but he saw a second later that their teeth weren't even penetrating the thick, evil chakra that surrounded his body.

After Kakashi had created some distance, he created a few hand signs, and then brought his hands down onto the floor.

"Earth Style: Mud Wall!"

A great barrier, that seemed to be made out of something other than the bridge they stood on, came into being in front of them, blocking one of the Jinchuuriki's next attacks.

"Sasuke I…" Kakashi looked back at him, sighed, and then continued. "The Nine-Tails' plan would most likely be to take over Naruto's body fully, and then reconstitute himself in it. His goal here is for Naruto to lose himself, gain all 9 of his tails, and fully summon himself into the outside world."

"W-well then what the hell do we do!? Can't we save him!?" Sasuke was aware his voice came out desperate, pleading, even. He didn't particularly care. This was his friends life on the line, the boy's life that he'd given for him.

Right now, his own didn't matter. He'd give anything, everything, to save his friend. To pay back the debt he Naruto.

Kakashi was silent for a few seconds, contemplating something as the wall in front of them shook and began to give under the Nine-Tails' assault. A second later the noises stopped again, replaced by the scraping, scratching, and growling of the dog's attacks.

"The far easier plan is to eliminate the threat in front of us. The Nine-Tails may make Naruto strong, but that's only brute strength. You've seen that, right Sasuke?"

He had, the boy had tried to kill him a few times, but they'd been instinctive moves, poorly thought out, easily dodged.

But…

"I… I would be able to kill him, even in that form."

Sasuke didn't even hesitate.

"What's the other plan?"

The man in front of him simply sighed, seemingly resigned to his fate, before he placed his hands in front of his Sharingan, making a modified 'tiger' sign. The man closed his eyes, concentrating hard.

"In the days of the warring states period, it was rumored that an Uchiha of immense power, a man known as Madara, once tamed the Nine-Tailed Fox with only his Sharingan's Genjutsu." Kakashi spoke calmly, but there was something in his voice that caused the hairs on the back of Sasuke's neck to stand up.

Doubt.

"I… I possess a powerful type of Sharingan, known as the Mangekyou Sharingan."

That sent a chill down Sasuke's spine. He'd heard about the Mangekyou from his brother, and that the only method of obtaining it was to kill your closest friend. He wasn't sure whether or not to take his brother at his word, but he had nothing else to go on.

"O-ok, so then you're going to cast a Genjutsu on Naruto to break him out of this?"

"I know a few Genjutsu, but the problem is that Madara never really left a guidebook on how to subvert the Nine-tails' will, hell, even the whole taming thing is just a story." His sensei wasn't looking too good, his legs were shaking slightly, and he was paling. "It doesn't help that I've only ever used my Mangekyou a handful of times, I'll need plenty of time to charge it."

_Does that mean…_

"You'd be buying me time, fighting against Naruto." Kakashi looked straight at him, eyes hard. "You'd have no real backup, no one coming to save you, all on your own, against the Nine-Tailed Fox's Jinchuuriki."

To say the thought scared Sasuke would've been an understatement. He was terrified, and physically shook in place, bracing himself on the ground with his still fully functioning right arm. His left arm was dull and numb from repeated attacks from the boy sitting across from them, looking down at the ground in silent thought.

"He wouldn't be alone."

All heads turned behind them, and Sasuke nearly shouted out as he looked upon the visage of Sakura, stood there with a determined expression on her face, kunai at the ready.

"Sakura!? Why aren't you guarding Tsunami's?" Kakashi spoke out, looking towards the girl with minor shock.

"I was, and then two mercenary guys showed up, wanting to kidnap her. I took them out and tied them up, gave them to the villagers, but they left to go and form a Militia, I think they're going to try and protect the bridge." Sakura explained, laying out the events of the last hour or so. "The bigger question is what the hell's going on here? I mean, I heard the ending part about the… Mangekyou Sharingan or whatever, but what is it we're fighting? Cause it doesn't seem to be those two!" she pointed to Zabuza and Haku, who were resting against the opposite side of the bridge, with the older man wrapping a bandage around his student's wounded sternum.

Sasuke almost wanted to feel bad about that, but then remembered that this whole thing was his fault, and that he'd been trying to kill them both.

_Not feeling all that bad about that._

Sasuke and Kakashi gave the girl a brief rundown on what had happened, and on their objective, to try and distract Naruto while their Sensei charged up his Mangekyou to use a Genjutsu.

"Wait, hold on," Sakura spoke up when they'd finished, looking terribly worried. "Do you even know the Jutsu to break him out of this?"

Their sensei gave them a shrill, noncommittal laugh.

"Oh my god." Sakura muttered, kneeling down on the stone bridge, breathing heavily, eyes hardening every second. A moment or two later, she looked up, terribly afraid. "We're going to fight that thing," She gestured at the wall, which, as if on cue, shook terrifyingly under the strain of Naruto's attack. "On what might as well be a fairy tale."

"It's that or kill Naruto." Sasuke spoke up, speaking with none of his usual delicacy.

_Doesn't she understand that we have no options here!?_

Sakura bit her lip, looking away from him. It was, indeed, hard to weigh your entire life, the lives of your friends, and the lives of an entire village, on what was essentially a giant hunch.

But for Naruto, Sasuke would do it.

"Please, Sakura."

The girl sighed, before she stood up, looking towards him, and nodded.

"Alright."

Kakashi looked at the two of them with his right eye with what he could only describe as awe.

That or intense worry, it was somewhere in between.

"I…" The man trailed off, seemingly lost on what could possibly be said in such a situation. Instead, he simply shook his head, and looked back towards the stone wall, at the very least prepared. "Good luck you two."

They nodded, and a second later, the wall shot forwards.

It was shrinking as it did, seeming to lose mass as it pushed the raging beast on the other side of them towards the end of the bridge. It flung the creature off the end of the incomplete section, and both the muddy earth and the beast crashed into the waves below.

A second later, the One-tailed Naruto leapt back on to the bridge, eyes primal, filled with nothing but rage.

There were only a few meters, perhaps 4 or 5, between Sasuke and Sakura, and Kakashi, Zabuza, and Haku. A few of the Ninja hounds Kakashi had summoned, those left on the other side of the wall to distract the Nine-Tails, were still around, though they looked to be running out of steam themselves.

"Sorry kids, that's all we can do for ya'. Couple of my boys were already banished, I gotta go check up on them." The leader of the group, Pakkun, if he recalled correctly, spoke out, eyes guilty as he looked upon the two of them.

"That's fine, Thank you for everything." Sasuke spoke back, giving the canines a weak smile.

The dogs burst into smoke a moment later, all wearing that same expression of guilt. The Uchiha didn't much care, he hadn't been counting on them to win them this fight.

Hell, he'd been planning on doing it alone until Sakura showed up.

"What's the plan, Sasuke?" The girl in question looked towards him but didn't dare turn away from the threat in front of them, who appeared to still be sizing them up.

"Don't die." Sasuke didn't turn his gaze away from the beast in Naruto's body. He could feel something in the back of his skull, a faint tingling there. It clawed and itched, begging to be let free.

_Well, _Sasuke thought, _I see no reason not to._

His vision heightened to a ridiculous state, so much so that he could see the individual movements of Naruto's body, could tell that the boy's seemingly skittish jolts were actually pained jittering. Could see that the aggressive look in his eyes was actually agony, a cry for help.

He felt himself grow angry, truly angry, for the second time that day.

_So, this Nine-Tailed Fox thinks it can just take my best friend away? _Sasuke seethed, drawing one of his last two shuriken into his weakened left hand. _Use him for its own means?_

Sasuke saw the exact moment when the creature charged, the movements in it's ankle beginning to propel it forward. He was already dodging the attack before the beast even realized it _was _attacking.

_I won't let you!_

Sakura fell slightly behind, barely managing to sidestep the monster's claws, but inadvertently gave it a clear path towards Kakashi. The both of their eyes widened, as the man in front of them became the target for the Nine-Tails' wrath.

Or, he would've, if not for the masked boy from earlier kicking Naruto aside, standing to step in front of Kakashi.

"Haku!?" The assassin of the mist cried out; eyes wide with shock. "What the hell are you doing!?"

"Zabuza sir," The boy replied, juking past another swipe by a hair's breadth, the chakra on the beast's claw's coming close enough still leave a cut on the masked ninja's skin. "I thought I killed this boy once already today, and found myself overcome with grief. I… I tried to hide it, to bury it like you said to… but…"

The boy dodged underneath a claw and sent a rising kick to the underside of the Nine-Tails' jaw, launching the creature back towards him and Sakura.

"I am sorry, Zabuza sir, but I do not think I could kill him again." The masked boy shook, and even from where Sasuke was stood, it was obvious the boy was crying, however much he tried to hide it.

The demon of the mist seemed frozen to the spot, unable to find anything to say, but a second or so later, the Nine-Tails' landed back onto the bridge, and shot past the two remaining members of Team 7, gunning towards Haku with all its rage.

It was intercepted by a massive great sword and buffeted back by the sheer force of the swing.

"Haku, you… I…" Zabuza Momochi seemed at a loss for words, sighing a second later, before swinging his sword back onto his shoulder and reaching down to briefly rufflle the boy's hair. The man turned back towards the beast, now between Team 7 and the two of them, and raised his sword. "I think we need to have a long talk after all of this is over."

To his surprise, the boy reached up and removed his mask, storing it away inside of his haori. The boy smiled a bit sadly, not quite able to meet his master's eyes.

"That sounds good, Zabuza sir."

Sasuke got his first good look at the boy's face, and he could say with fair certainty that he hadn't expected him to be quite so feminine. Still, he'd also seen the boy stab his best friend today, along with trying to murder an innocent bridge-builder for money, so he wasn't so foolish as to think that made him less intimidating.

"I'm about 40% of the way charged," Kakashi spoke up, looking up at Zabuza and Haku with some slight trepidation, before dismissing it. "If you guys really do want to help… well, we could use it."

"'Want to help' is a strong term," Zabuza spoke up, rolling his eyes as he forced his left hand to rise. Sasuke noticed that there was a large incision on that arm, likely given to him by their sensei. Still, he managed to bring his hand forth, and instantly, two copies of Zabuza, made from the waters surrounding the bridge, sprung into life. "I'm here because this brat asked me to be, there's no other reason. If this thing we're fighting ever threatens Haku's life, then I'll kill it without a second thought."

The boy in question seemed stunned, eyes widening as he looked up at the famed Demon of the mist.

"Zabuza, sir?"

"Like I said, we'll talk later, Brat. We've got work to do."

The assassin's clones went first, dashing towards the one-tailed Naruto with impressive speed, using their momentum to swing their blades with even greater force than normal. The beast took the blade's on with it's body, clinging to them after they hit, and drawing the clones towards him by their own swords. It cut them down a second later, much to the assassin's chagrin.

Even still, the Mist duo didn't stop moving for a second, as Haku had already brought out a small collection of Icy blades, hovering behind him in the air, and launching them towards their opponent.

Sasuke stood back, letting the two work in tandem without getting in their way. After their attack was over, he would intercede with his and Sakura's own, and allow the other two to cool down.

After all, this wasn't a battle they needed to win, they only needed to outlast their opponent. If they were still standing when Kakashi had fully charged his Mangekyou, then they would be victorious.

_Saying it is a lot easier than doing it, though._

Naruto growled fiercely as he took the spiny icicles onto his arms, not piercing his bubbling chakra layer, but unable to move forwards whilst being pelted continuously. The beast ducked a moment later, practically prone on the ground as it avoided the remaining daggers, dashing forwards in an inhuman way.

Zabuza stepped forwards, kicking the beast straight in it's face, knocking it backwards as the Demon of the Mist looked towards Sakura and Sasuke, nodding towards them.

_Our turn, then._

"Let's go, Sakura!"

"I'm here!"

He slid across the cold stone beneath him, kicking up at the disoriented Naruto with his left foot, using his right hand as a pivot to spin in midair, connecting a second kick to the side of the boy's jaw. The beast ground it's teeth together, trying to reach out and take Sasuke's leg, but was interrupted by a shuriken straight to the hand, with pinpoint accuracy, thrown by Sakura, who stood just a meter or two away.

The creature turned towards the source of distraction, but was this time met with a scorching ball of flame to the backside, Sasuke using about half of his remaining chakra for that attack. He didn't have much in the tank to begin with, still exhausted from fighting Haku earlier.

Naruto flew backwards, once again pushed to the edge of the bridge. He growled, sizing them up, but not making a move.

"This is going surprisingly well!" Sakura spoke up, smiling despite the situation.

_Why would you say that?_

A second later, the beast before them fell to the ground, clutching it's head. It squirmed and yelled, as a protrusion around it's backside began to grow outwards.

A second tail joined the first.

"Why would you say that!?" Sasuke screamed out, exasperated.

"I don't know!" His teammate screamed back, looking desperately back at Kakashi, who was still charging up his Jutsu. "Sensei, how much longer!?"

"I'm at around 60%, give me 2 more minutes!" The man shouted, impressively managing to keep his concentration even with Sakura's shouting.

Sasuke wasn't quite sure if they could manage two minutes. As far as he'd seen, Naruto wasn't taking any damage, not that they were really trying to inflict it either. Still, it meant that even though they could knock him out of the fight for a moment, he'd always come back.

And now, he was dashing back towards them. Sasuke threw his shuriken, but the beast merely took the hit, ignoring it and swiping his nails towards Sakura.

They were blocked by Zabuza's blade, but the man was knocked backwards from the force of the blow.

Which was bad, because they'd been staying even in the fight through the assassin's brute strength, and if he couldn't hold the Nine-Tails, then none of them could.

Sasuke wouldn't lie, he was panicking a bit. Not for him, the Sharingan meant he saw all of Naruto's moves a second before the boy even started to make them, but it couldn't protect Sakura, or even the two people fighting with them. Right now, the balance of the four of them versus the nine-tails was being held, but without wanting to kill the boy, it was all they could do to hold that balance.

And the beast before them had no qualms at all with killing them.

Sasuke drew his last shuriken, turning it in his hand aimlessly, trying to distract himself from what lay before him.

It didn't really work.

The creature let out a short roar, briefly stunning all 4 of them, before it charged in recklessly, aiming straight at Zabuza. It couldn't quite connect the hit, as Haku deflected the Nine-Tails' outstretched hand, causing him to strike only air. The assassin didn't miss his window, chopping the boy with full force on the back of the neck.

It should have knocked the monster out, but instead, it merely rocketed him into the ground. Upon landing, the creature didn't hesitate, it simply spun in place. The monster's tails swept Sasuke's feet out from under him, and he realized with horrified panic that he was falling, and that the monster was going right for him.

It was hard to describe what happened to him next. It was as if, all of a sudden, the entirety of his life flashed before his eyes. His family, his friends, their deaths. It all came to him. what stuck with him, really, was his brother. The man's accursed eyes came back to him in that moment, glowing not with rage, or passion, but with boredom.

_I need to kill him._

It was a simple thought, filled with the feelings his brother was unable to possess, unable to understand. He'd mocked Sasuke that night, all that time ago, to build up his hate, his grudge, and to seek him out when their eyes were the same.

How the hell would he kill him now, though? The Nine-Tails was about to run it's claws through his chest, killing him before he could even cry out for help. Another thought, a single, oddly confident thought, came to him.

_I want to live._

No, that wasn't quite right.

_I need to live._

That thought, no matter how straightforward, how primal in nature, made his eyes respond. He sent an idea to them.

_Make this beast stop._

They complied.

Pain.

That was the first thing he felt. A coursing, sharp pain inside of his skull. The beast before him halted, seemingly held in place by invisible force. It vibrated slightly, as if dreaming fitfully, but whatever it was in Sasuke's Sharingan that kept it from moving didn't falter.

_It's asleep?_

It didn't make the pain any lesser, however, and Sasuke fell to his knees a second later. He didn't look away, though, couldn't afford to.

The Nine-Tails' chakra claws were only an inch from his face.

**Pain**

A horrid wave cut into skull, and he thought for a moment that the beast had carved into him. his head felt like it was going to collapse in on itself. He fell to the floor, completely spent, and the Nine-Tails above him awoke, raising it's claws once again to deliver a final blow.

A second later, a massive cleaver struck the monster's side, launching him across the bridge, where he landed in a heap, howling in rage.

"The hell, kid," Zabuza scooped him up with one arm, handing him over to who he could only assume was Sakura. "You didn't say you knew Genjutsu!"

"Didn't…" It was hard to speak, it felt like his mouth was filled to the brim with syrup. "Didn't know… I could."

The assassin gave him an odd look, but it was soon replaced by an exhausted grimace as the monster at the end of the bridge roared once more, and the man stood back up to full height, drawing his weapon back in front of him.

Sasuke hadn't seen when, but the weapon had cracked straight down the middle. It wasn't quite broken, but he imagined it didn't have long.

"Oi, copy ninja," Zabuza shouted out. "how much longer!?"

"I'm nearly ready!" Kakashi yelled back, head hung low, but with a determined expression on his features. "I need around 30 more seconds!"

The demon hissed, but complied, charging forward. Going on the offensive was probably the easiest way of keeping the beast off of Kakashi, but Sasuke could see at least one problem with that plan.

Namely, that the beast in front of them had gained another tail.

It was faster too, it seemed, as it darted past Zabuza, running straight at Haku. The ice user flinched but managed to bring his arms up in front of him in time to block the strike. It didn't help him much with the landing, though, as he skidded to a stop a few meters away, having been launched across the bridge. He didn't seem to be getting up, but was certainly alive, if the pained groaning was anything to go by.

Zabuza growled, and brought a kunai out of his pouch, pouncing on the beast from behind and slamming it down. He managed to score a small cut onto Naruto's back, even through the chakra, though when he pulled his left hand out, it was to find it oddly marked, almost as if it had been burned.

"I need 15 more seconds!" Kakashi called out, standing up for the first time in minutes, preparing to cast his Jutsu.

It wasn't much, but it brought some life back into Sasuke's features. He could feel Sakura, who was still holding him in her arms, rouse as well. They both rose, rushing in to join the fight.

Until Sasuke's legs gave out on him, that was.

"Sasuke!?" His teammate called out behind him, sounding horribly concerned.

"Help them, I'll be fine!"

It wouldn't do for her to worry about him now, not when they were so close.

Sakura complied, running into the melee in front of the two of them, connecting her kunai with one of the boy's swinging tails, just barely managing to duck underneath of his claws.

"5 seconds!"

Sasuke watched it all in morbid fascination. At any moment, any of those three fighting Naruto could be killed. A single hit to a vital area could kill them.

This was that intense of a battle.

"4!"

The Nine-Tails charged at Haku's still body but was intercepted by Zabuza's cleaver. The hit was enough to break the blade in twain, sending the second piece flying off the edge of the bridge.

"3!"

Sakura brought her hands together, muttering something, before bringing her hands down onto the ground, and shouting "Earth Style: Mud Wall!"

Whether she'd picked it up off of Kakashi's technique earlier, or she had known it before hand, one couldn't deny that Sakura had chosen the perfect time to use her Jutsu. It was smaller than Kakashi's, and a bit less well packed, but it still took a potentially dangerous hit for the Demon of the Mist, breaking upon contact with the Nine-Tails' claws.

"2!"

The Nine-Tailed Fox, though some strange instinct, or perhaps actual intelligence, seemed to realize what it was they were trying to do, to seal it back away, and charged towards Kakashi. It dodged one blow from Zabuza, juked underneath another from Sakura, and even effortlessly broke apart the earth wall the girl spawned in front of it.

"1!"

_Ah, there's that feeling again._

Naruto's face smiled, knowing it had won, claw's poised to take the head off of their mentor. Off of his own mentor.

His hand stopped an inch from the man's face.

**_Pain_**

It hurt quite a bit, but that wouldn't stop him now. He could hold the beast, he knew that. He'd done it earlier. He didn't have to manage it for very long, just a second.

_Just one second._

"Mangekyou Sharingan!" Kakashi screamed, left eye finally revealing itself.

It was bloodshot, and the design of the eye had changed, now a swirling pattern reminiscent of a windmill.

It was as if all noise in the area died for just a moment. All of them, even the two from the mist, sat silently, waiting to see if their ace in the hole had come through.

A second later, the Nine-Tailed Fox let out a piercing howl, buffeting them all back. It scratched at the bridge below it, carving out giant chunks of the solid concrete as if it were made of butter. One tail left, then two. Finally, the third tail disappeared, and as the beast let out one final yell, it stilled, mouth still open towards the sky, trapped in a perpetual scream.

Sasuke wanted to collapse. Honestly, he probably needed to collapse, but that could wait. Right now, he needed to know if the boy in front of him, his best friend, was alright.

The boy's body fell the ground, completely limp. Kakashi was the first to him, being only a meter from him at the time of his collapse. He cradled Naruto in his arms, bringing his head up. Sasuke noticed that the man's left eye was leaking blood, running down his face where it dripped onto the blonde's face below him.

Sasuke felt terrified to ask, but also couldn't stop himself.

"I-Is he…?"

Kakashi looked up at him, and then, to Sasuke's immense relief, gave him an easy smile.

"He's alive."

Sasuke gave a small noise of acknowledgement. He looked over at everyone around, walking over to them in varying states of exhaustion, and nodded to himself.

His legs gave out a second later.

/-/

Sakura felt an odd sense of loneliness as she looked at her two teammates passed out next to one another.

Of course, she wasn't lonely because they were passed out, but more because of what had happened today.

They'd both given everything they'd had. They'd given blood, sweat, and tears, and what had she done?

_Sat around a house, _Sakura mentally grumbled, idly spinning a kunai on one finger._ Capturing some random mooks. _

Oh sure, she'd been able to bring out her new Jutsu, the mud wall, which Kakashi had taught her while they waited around on the bridge. It turned out that her primary release was Earth-type, so he'd decided to show her one of his 'favorites'. She appreciated it, honestly, and apparently she took to learning new Jutsu quite well.

It felt like empty praise, even if it maybe wasn't.

What had it all mattered? When Naruto's clone had shown up, they'd both agreed Sasuke was better for going to back the boy up, and so Sakura had waited behind.

Behind them, like she always was.

It didn't matter that she'd successfully protected those two at the house. Didn't matter that maybe her efforts would lead to the bridge getting rebuilt. None of it mattered.

Well, maybe it did, but not to her.

As she ground her teeth, thinking about this and that, she nearly missed the sound of someone clearing their throat in front of her. She looked up and was surprised to see the Icy ninja that they'd just fought with.

"Hello." The boy spoke out, smiling a bit sadly to her as he sat down, cross-legged, on the bridge.

"Its…" Sakura struggled to come up with the name. She'd heard it once while being stressed about Naruto, but she thought she could remember something that sounded vaguely correct. "Haku, right?"

"Indeed." The boy's smile became a bit more genuine, before he gazed down at the floor, drawing a small design in the rubble with his finger. "I… I don't really know how to say this…"

"I find it's almost always easier to just come out with it." Sakura spoke, not looking at him, but instead at the two Jonin a way's away, talking quietly to one another. It turned out that working together to not die made friends of the weirdest people. Kakashi was currently trying to reason with Zabuza about dropping his and Haku's current job.

It seemed to be going… well-ish.

"Oh… alright then." The boy in front of her squared his shoulders and stood back up to his full height. He bowed deeply, the front of his haori might as well have touched the floor. "I'm sorry for nearly killing your teammate."

_Oh. _

_I actually didn't expect that._

"Uhm… Thanks."

The boy shuffled awkwardly for a moment or two, fiddled once with his robe, and then walked over to stand next to his master.

The sound of marching footsteps caught Sakura's attention, and she turned to the source of the noise with a curious expression. She saw 40 or 50 men, all armed with swords or similar weapons, charging their way's up the bridge, laughing and jeering.

They came to a stop a way's away from their group, though every single one of them had already drawn a weapon, some a bit more subtly than others. Kakashi had a shuriken in the back of his left hand, concealed behind his leg. Zabuza had simply chosen to place his broken sword over his shoulder, holding it ominously.

Sakura saw more than a few men in the crowd shuffle nervously, though that all changed when a shrill voice sounded above them.

"Well, well, well." A small man, barely a meter in height, stepped in front of the rowdy band, smirking to himself like he was the beneficiary of some lucrative scheme, which he probably was. "What do we have here? Enemies consorting with one another? People under my payroll, actively betraying me?"

Gato looked back towards his men, laughing. All of them followed suit, though it wasn't hard to notice that half of them had to fake it.

"Y'know, the last person who did that is currently tied to a boulder, about a mile deep in the ocean." If it was possible, Sakura thought the man's smile grew even more heinous. He smacked his cane against the concrete bridge, the sound echoing off the water.

"Men," He spoke shrilly, pointing his cane out in front of him. "Kill them all."

The band shouted, but before they could so much as make a move, an icy dagger pierced directly into the shoulder of one of the front most mercenaries. The man screamed as he fell, landing on the ground in a heap. He'd live, but he was out of the fight.

Haku himself looked unfazed, summoning more daggers from behind him.

"This is the last of my chakra, Zabuza sir." The boy spoke quietly enough that the crowd couldn't hear him, looking oddly confident despite their situation.

"That's fine. Thanks, brat." The assassin brought his left hand in front of him, and even if it was badly burned from the Nine-Tails chakra, he was still able to form the signs for "Water Style: Water Clone Jutsu!"

A few more Zabuza's, perhaps 6 or 7, sprung up beside the man, each of them swinging their swords around them in an arc, and then slamming them into the bridge below them. Even with only half a blade, the concrete still cracked under the blow.

The men in front of them were stepping backwards now, actively frightened of pursuing their targets.

Sakura's Sensei looked to want to join in as well, and the man raised his hand in Naruto's trademarked Shadow Clone Jutsu sign, but he faltered. She could see the strain playing on the man's face and realized with a start that he'd just used a more powerful Sharingan, merely days after he'd recovered from using the less powerful version.

He had to be barely standing, most likely knowing that if he fell, the men would charge.

Sakura swallowed nothing at all, trying to keep herself calm. She put on her best brave face, and took a battle-ready stance, drawing her last kunai from her pack as she feigned preparedness.

The men looked to be nearly fully cowed now, looking backwards and seeing if they couldn't make a run for it.

"The hell are you doing!?" Their boss, Gato, shouted a second later, eyes roaming over the group of men. He drew his cane out and whacked the man on the floor, who had been stabbed by Haku's icy projectile earlier. "Get up. Get up!"

The man in question did manage to stand up, but only did so to take a step backwards, completely ignoring the angry man in front of him, and instead focusing on the 4 presumably battle-ready ninjas in front of him.

_I have to admit, _Sakura thought, smiling with more confidence then she really felt. _This whole bluff thing isn't a bad plan._

They needed one last push, though, all of them could see that. The men were skittish but looked to still be grappling with the idea of losing their paychecks for the foreseeable future.

Luckily, it seemed Zabuza would be giving them all the motivation they needed. His clones drew their swords back, and, with more strength than Sakura had ever seen, hurled their blades towards the crowds.

They parted like a river, yelling desperately as they narrowly avoided the spinning blades, which cut deeply into the concrete where they landed, eventually melting back into the water that they were.

Sakura imagined that, had they seen them turn into water, these people wouldn't have been nearly as afraid. Unfortunately for them, however, they weren't really looking behind them very much at all, on account of running away with their tails between their legs.

They halted again, however, as an arrow impacted the ground just before them.

He was a small archer, barely shorter than Gato, and wielding a crossbow far too big for him, but Inari still managed to cut a mean figure.

It probably helped that he had a good hundred people behind him, all armed with what Sakura imagined was whatever they could find. She saw kitchen knives, frying pans, and even one particularly enthusiastic woman with a soup ladle.

"W-What the hell!?" One of Gato's mercenaries called out, taking a step back, and bumping into another equally as frightened man. "T-trapped on all sides!?"

"W-what do we do!?"

"The bridge! Jump off the bridge!"

"Yeah!"

The first to go was a swordsman, then a man wielding a glaive. The rest followed suit, jumping off the bridge in varying states of panic.

Zabuza, however, shot forward, apparently unsatisfied with how things had ended up. He charged into the crowd, and Sakura heard a faint scream, before he emerged, carrying a small businessman over his shoulder, looking awfully pleased with himself.

"Well, hello there, Gato." The assassin spoke up, and Sakura could tell even with the bandages that covered his face that he was smiling maliciously. "I actually have a question for you. My ears were damaged during my fight earlier, so I couldn't quite make out what you said…"

The man in question paled, his face going whiter than the clouds above them, looking for all the world a corpse.

Sakura feared he might soon become one.

"Would you mind repeating it for me?"

Gato let out a small squeak, and then fainted in the man's arms.

The demon of the mist snorted, taking the man by the back of his collar, and hauling him up, once more holding him behind his shoulder. He swung his sword around and placed it onto his back as well. It still fit in the holster he'd made for it, the blade cracking below where it connected into it.

"Well," Zabuza spoke up, looking to be in a notably better mood than he was earlier. He reached his hand into the man's back pocket and pulled out a wallet that looked fit to burst. "I'd say that worked out surprisingly well."

Despite everything that had happened, Sakura found herself giggling slightly into her hand, and then full on laughing a second later. She laughed for a long, long time, even as she heard her teacher give a small chuckle as well, before he looked over to the two who'd worked with them today, eyes hardening.

"Now… what to do about all of this?" Kakashi spoke up, before he sighed a second later, putting away the shuriken that he'd been holding this entire time.

"Hmph." Zabuza himself gave a small laugh, though it was muted. "We know about that boy, and the secret he carries." The Demon of the Mist looked at the both of them, looking for the first time since Sakura met the man like he deserved that moniker. "You can't let us go."

"No," Kakashi spoke, gazing down at the floor, placing his right hand into his pocket. "I can't."

There was silence, and for a brief moment, Sakura thought they were about to fight these two again, in the state they were in.

Even she knew they wouldn't be winning that.

To her relief, Kakashi looked back up, smiling in a way that could be seen even from underneath his mask.

"So, I'd like to invite you two to come to the Leaf Village."

"What!?"

A second of looking around at everyone, who all stared back at her, made Sakura realize that it had been her who had screeched that out. She squirmed a little under the scrutiny, but still couldn't quite hide her shock.

_Just like that!?_

"I can't help but agree with the girl," Zabuza spoke up, expression a bit curious. "I can't help but think that it'd be far too easy for us to kill the four of you and be done with all this. Plus, I'd get to make a pretty penny off your bingo book entry, too."

It was Kakashi's turn to laugh this time, as he looked towards the man's student, who looked to be paling slightly at the notion of killing their new friends.

"I don't think you would."

"What!?" The assassin spoke up, surprised by the idea that Kakashi would think him incapable of murder.

"I said I don't think you would, or at least, I don't think your student would let you."

Zabuza looked down at his protégé, who couldn't quite meet the man's eyes.

"And what makes you think that this brat here calls the shots? He does what I say!"

Kakashi snorted.

"Doesn't seem like it to me."

"What!?" The Demon of the Mist sounded like a broken record, but even Sakura could see that her teacher's words were having an effect on the man.

_Is he… blushing?_

"I think you like that boy quite a bit more than you let on, and I think you know he thinks the world of you." Kakashi spoke, leaning back against the railing of the bridge. It seemed like a casual position, a show of trust, but Sakura could see the truth, that the man just couldn't stand up anymore in his condition. "I'm just thinking that… perhaps life in a village would be far easier than that of a mercenary."

Zabuza blinked, thought about everything that was happening, and then blinked again. He made a small noise, that seemed to Sakura to be the start of a retort, but it died before it could make it out of the man's mouth.

"To add to that, you won't be hunted by the Mist's tracking unit if you enter the Leaf Village, our barrier corps is one of the strongest in the world. You also wouldn't have to worry about money, being able to make it from missions and the like."

"Kakashi… You…" The assassin seemed caught between anger and contemplation. He was rapidly changing the focus of his gaze, from his student to her sensei, even looking to her once or twice.

"And, I think your kid there would appreciate not having to kill his new friends, am I right?" He gestured towards the boy to speak, though if he expected to get a word out of him, he was clearly mistaken. The ice user clammed up completely, his fact paling.

Zabuza looked down at his student, seeming to be thinking about a half a million things. He brought his hand up, almost wanting to place his hand on the boy's shoulder but decided against it at the last moment.

"Haku… what do you want to do?"

The ice user looked up at his master, bewildered by the question. If Sakura had to guess, she'd say that the boy didn't usually have agency in these things.

"Zabuza, sir?"

The man simply nodded towards his student, but otherwise not speaking as the boy looked down towards the ground, eyes a complicated mess of feelings.

"I…" Haku spoke quietly, rubbing his hands together nervously, before, with a deep breath, he steeled himself. "I don't want to hurt these people."

The Demon of the Mist looked down at his student, seemingly indifferent to the boy's decision. A second later, he brought his hand up onto the boy's head, and lightly ruffled his hair.

"Alright, I guess that's what we'll do, then."

Zabuza turned back towards Kakashi, sighed deeply, and then smiled tiredly.

"Well, you heard him. I suppose this makes us-"

Kakashi fell sideways, slumping down onto the ground, and somehow managing to land just next to Sasuke and Naruto, all three of them passed out from exertion.

"Uhm…" The assassin looked confused, as did Haku. They seemed a bit concerned as well, and Sakura felt that was fair. This wasn't the first time she'd seen this happen, though. Hell, it was the third time this week.

Still though, as she looked down at her comatose teammates, she realized with a pained groan that someone had to carry them back to Tazuna's place.

"Aw..." Sakura spoke, falling to her knees and massaging her face with her hands.

"Why me?"

**End Chapter 8**

* * *

**Not a superdy-duperdy lot to say, so I'll keep it brief.**

**This is the first major change in the timeline, thanks to Naruto and Sasuke being better friends, and Naruto being better trained, the two are able to fight a bit differently, but still lose against Haku. It's definitely a different way, though.**

**I also wanted to make sure Sakura herself is more useful throughout this whole Fic, even if I love her character in the show. She especially never gets any help at all from Kakashi, so I wanted to add in some of that, with him teaching her the Mud Wall.  
**

**Alright, that's it from me, see you next week!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Yo!**

**Suuuuuper short chapter this week, sorry about that. Work killed my creative drive, and along with League's MSI going on, I was just way too distracted to find time to work on this regularly. **

**Still, I wanted to get _a_ chapter out, and wrap up the first major arc.**

**Without further ado, let's get into it!**

* * *

**Chapter 9: Extradition**

* * *

Naruto awoke with a start, bumping his head against the windowsill above him, and groaning into his hands.

It felt appropriate, given that just about every part of his body hurt.

It wasn't quite as bad as it had been, he could vaguely remember the intense, searing pain he'd experienced. The worst of it was clearly behind him, as he was already feeling better, but he still had to wince as he thought about it.

Especially since he didn't really know what happened.

_The last thing I can remember, _Naruto thought, scratching his chin. _Is… that evil looking fox._

From them on, he had flashes; bits and pieces of memories, but nothing concrete.

He looked around him and found himself in the sitting room of Tsunami and Tazuna's home. He saw Sasuke and his teacher Kakashi laid down around him, the older man snoring away in his sleep.

He reached over to shake one of them awake, but had his hand stopped by another, gripping his wrist in an assertive, but not overly forceful way.

"You shouldn't disturb them; they need their rest."

Naruto looked over towards the voice, and found the same girl (_Boy, _Naruto had to remind himself, _He's a boy) _that he'd met in the woods a few days back. He was dressed a bit differently, gone was the pink dress of before, replaced by a green coat.

A green coat that looked _suspiciously_ familiar.

"Hey, wait a second!" Naruto shouted out, completely forgetting about being quiet for his friends' sake. "You're that guy who attacked us!"

The boy blushed embarrassedly, rubbing the back of his neck, and mumbling a small apology into the floor. Naruto caught it, just barely, and felt a bit better about the whole thing. He didn't really care that he'd almost died, couldn't really muster the energy to, at the moment.

He felt a bit weird, like the itching and clawing that had always been in his stomach was a bit stronger.

The beast's presence, for the first time in his life, felt just a bit too strong to ignore.

Naruto didn't dwell on that, though. He wasn't much for dwelling at all, and so just like the fact that the boy in front of him, who was currently muttering nervously into the floor, had tried to kill him, Naruto was planning on ignoring the Monster inside him as well. It had always worked against the people in the shopping district, after all, so it had to work here, as well.

"I… I'm very sorry about that, Naruto." The boy, whose name he was pretty sure was Haku, bowed deeply as he said it, presenting a humbling figure that seemed to war with the silent killer they'd met earlier. "I- that is to say, Mr. Zabuza, was dead set on eliminating you all. I tried to go for nonlethal strikes on the two of you, but when you jumped in front of-"

"Meh, it's fine."

The ice ninja blinked once, twice, and then smiled. It seemed to be a happy smile, but there was still a twinge of sadness to it that left Naruto a bit sad.

"I hope you don't mind me saying this, Naruto," The boy's smile brightened just a bit, and he seemed to laugh a bit as he spoke. "But you are a bit odd."

"Yeah, I know." He smiled back at the boy, before he looked back towards his friends, frowning slightly. "What… happened to me?"

A knock at the door broke him out of his thoughts, and he saw Sakura leaning against the wall, smiling at the two of them. She'd clearly heard what he'd said, however, because her expression was a bit strained, a bit tired, like she'd known this was coming, but still didn't want to deal with it.

To his surprise, it wasn't just her. Zabuza Momochi, their enemy and a dangerous Jonin level opponent, stood right behind her, making his way into the room with a careful step. He seemed almost nervous around Naruto, even though the boy knew it wasn't quite that extreme. He was being careful.

Whatever it was he'd done, the people around him were taking no chances.

"I think," The assassin of the Mist started, sitting down in the corner of the room, with clear view of the doorway, his student, and Naruto. "I'd probably be the best to explain this, in lieu of your Sensei's absence."

The blonde-haired boy swallowed, sat a bit straighter, and prepared himself.

/-/

When it was all over, Naruto didn't really know what to feel.

_So, this black marking on my chest holds the Nine-Tails? _

Naruto briefly ran his hand over it. It didn't seem much different from the rest of him, but now that he knew it held a monster inside, it seemed almost cold to the touch

"What should I do now?" He spoke up, not really sure what else to say. At times like these, it seemed like Sasuke or one of the girls would always have an answer.

"Right now," Zabuza spoke up, sighing exasperatedly and moving over to his student. "Haku here wants to go with you all, and I'm inclined to follow his whims, so we'll be taking your teacher's generous offer to come to the Leaf Village with you."

_Those two? In the Leaf Village?_

Naruto wasn't sure how to feel about that. He knew it was just their jobs that had made them enemies, but even still, they'd tried to murder an innocent man for money.

Could they really be trusted so easily?

"You seem to be doubting Kakashi's decision." The assassin spoke up, chuckling lightly as he said it. "Rest assured that he made his choice with no other options available. We know your secret, so we're an extreme danger to Konoha. There are a lot of people who would love to know the identity of the Leaf's Jinchuuriki, and some would kill for that kind of information."

He swallowed on nothing, trying to remain calm.

_People will come after me?_

They'd be after the Nine-Tails, but even still, he imagined he'd be getting mixed up in an awful lot of those things as well, given that the Nine-Tails was sealed inside him. He swayed, trying his best to retain his balance.

A hand on his shoulder steadied him, and he looked up to see Haku giving him a worried expression.

"Do not worry, Naruto, we aren't planning on selling your secret." The ice user smiled at him, and Naruto felt a bit of his worries disappear.

This boy wasn't the masked man they'd met on that bridge, at least not inside his heart. He was caring, and nice, even if his words did carry with them a small chill like a snowy day.

"Well, Haku won't sell you out, so I won't." Zabuza spoke up, grumbling into the floor a second later. "Could've made a couple million yen, but whatever, not like it's a big deal or anything."

"Ah, you're awake!"

Everyone in the room turned to the sound of the voice, to see Tazuna stood with a bowl of water in one arm, and several washcloths slung across his shoulder.

"Hey, Old man! Good to see you!" Naruto shouted back, smiling a bit despite his opinion of the guy. He hadn't particularly liked him, even as they got to know him more, but he definitely hadn't wanted to see the man killed.

"I just came in to swap the cloths on these guys." The bridge builder walked over to Kakashi and Sasuke, taking the sweaty clothes off of their foreheads and replacing them with new ones. Naruto thought that this was perhaps a bit gross but chose not to comment. Once he had finished, Tazuna turned towards the rest of them and asked. "So, what are you all planning on doing?"

Naruto looked towards the only adult in the room, and Zabuza sighed again, having to relay the same story he'd just given.

"We're going to travel back with these guys to their village, try and do more than scrape by. We'll probably head out in a day or two once these two recover." He pointed down towards the sleeping duo on Team 7.

"Hah, well, we owe you all one, so stay as long as you like." Tazuna practically skipped out of the room, guffawing at something Inari said to him on the other side.

Naruto himself smiled, seeing that the people who lived in this house, in this country, were recovering. They were talking, laughing, and crying with one another. They were healing through what they'd experienced.

Sasuke had often called him 'perceptive at the worst of times', and he didn't think he'd ever heard something quite so funny when the boy had first told him that. But that perceptiveness was just experience. He'd been around his best friend a lot, and he got used to the sorts of cues that meant that the boy was feeling crappy, or remembering something, or plotting vengeance. It wasn't that hard to spot, honestly, his friend wasn't exactly subtle.

Still, he originally got that knowledge from his own experience. He knew what it felt like to be isolated, and alone, and feel like you just wanted everything to be over. He knew how horrible that felt, and he knew that he didn't want anyone, no matter how mean, or terrible, or evil they were, to ever have to feel like that.

"Alright, Naruto," Sakura spoke up, pointing a finger at him with an assertive expression. "You need to get some rest too, I don't care if your body heals really fast, your mind doesn't."

"Aw, come on, Sakura!" He whined. "I don't wanna'!"

"Get!" She practically dragged him into one of the futons set on the ground, pulling up the blanket around him, and sighing. "Honestly, what the hell am I going to do with you all?"

Naruto laughed, his face crinkling as he shook lightly in place.

He was shocked to find that his body practically melted into his bedding, and he was asleep before he knew what hit him.

/-/

**"Yo, Kid."**

A startling voice brought him into that headspace, and he found himself ankle-deep in water once more. He sat up, looking with a determined expression at the beast that sat a way's away from him, behind metal bars a meter or more thick.

"Nine-Tails." Naruto spoke up, gazing angrily into the piercing red eyes that stared back at him.

**"Heh, that's right, they told you all about me." **The creature laughed again, seemingly finding this very funny. **"So, kid, whaddya' think?"**

He thought surprisingly little, actually. He didn't really know what so say to an ancient fox demon that tried to annihilate his entire village. Instead, he huffed loudly, turning away from the beast in the cage, ignoring it.

The monsters barking laughter made him scowl, and he turned back towards the creature to see it resting it's head against the cage floor once again, highly amused.

**"Ah, man, you really are a kid." **The creatures face went serious a second later, though, as he seemingly thought out loud. **"Still, that other one's a kid too... but those eyes… they remind me of him."**

Naruto wasn't quite sure what to say, and just when he was about to shout out, he found the creature looking back at him again, face an amused snarl.

**"Still, I must admit that for a non-Uchiha, that Mangekyou Sharingan had some incredible power." **The Nine-Tails ran his claw down one of the iron bars, creating a horrid scratching sound that seemed to echo off the walls. **"Well, whatever. Congratulations, brat, you seemed to have survived my plan to take your body."**

Naruto felt he'd be forgiven for not thanking the beast in front of him, instead standing on guard, waiting for an attack that didn't come.

**"Well, you'd best be off, I have things to do, and what not." **The monster raised it's lips in a cruel imitation of a smile.

And a second later, he snapped awake.

/-/

They'd left two days later, just enough time for Kakashi to wake up.

Naruto hadn't expected his teacher to be so out of it, it had only taken some light bed rest for him to recover from using his Sharingan the first time, but apparently this Mangekyou or whatever it was called was a bit more powerful than Naruto had thought it'd be.

They traveled as far as they could before the man had collapsed, asking for just a bit of a break. The rest of them weren't having it, and Zabuza resigned to carry the man the rest of the way. His brute strength from wielding his massive sword seemed to come in extra handy, because he carried the man with no difficulty at all.

By the time they made it back to the leaf village a few days later, they were all of them a bit exhausted. Not the least of which was Sasuke, who was still recovering from overusing his eyes, but found himself not wanting to slow their formation down. Naruto could relate to that, even if he did wish his friend would be a little more forthcoming with how he was feeling.

The guards at the gate were understandably worried about their new arrivals, but Zabuza simply told them to get an Anbu guard for them if they were so worried, and the two people who watched the gate agreed, calling in support.

A while later, 4 Anbu, wearing masks of different animals, descended upon them, literally melting out of the shadows. Naruto himself felt a bit nervous, but the assassin of the mist didn't even flinch, instead merely handing his broken blade to one of the masked ninja, who took it without saying anything. He kept his ninja tools, but none of them seemed to mind.

Their trip to the Hokage's office was a quiet one, without interruption. Kakashi and Sasuke had both come as well, though not without Sakura's resistance, telling them time and time again that just her and Naruto would be fine, and that they should get some rest.

"Well," Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage and veritable God of Shinobi spoke quietly, eyebrows a bit raised as he took a long draw out of his pipe. "I can't say that this was what I expected."

"This is an outrage!" Another older man, with black, unkempt hair and bandages covering the right half of his face, spoke out, stamping his cane onto the ground. "To bring an enemy infiltrator into the heart of this village!"

"Calm yourself, Danzo." The Third Hokage was somehow still smiling despite those accusations, looking just as crafty in Naruto's eyes as the Nine-Tailed Fox itself. "We should hear what they have to say before we make any wild claims, shouldn't we?"

"Wild claims!?"

"Now, what is it that brought you two into our village. If I'm not mistaken, you are Zabuza Momochi, rogue ninja of the Mist village." The old man took another draw of his pipe, and Naruto started to think that he was doing it just to worry them all. "For what reason, exactly, are you requesting sanctuary in our village, and for what reason should we offer it to you?"

A simple set of questions, and ones that carried massive weight behind them. Answer wrong, and it was possible that the two in front of him, people that he'd actually grown to like quite a lot in the last few days, would be hunted down and killed by his own village.

"As for the reason behind my request, I simply wished to stop scraping the bottom of the barrel for missions and money." Zabuza spoke calmly, and if it was forced, Naruto couldn't tell at all. "I also wished for a much safer environment for my… pupil."

Haku sat a little bit straighter, not nearly as calm as his master was. That really wasn't his fault, normally the Third Hokage had this air about him that could calm you down, but the man sat beside him, grinding his teeth angrily and glaring at them all, kind of cancelled that out.

Despite this, Naruto thought he caught a faint smile on the Old man's face, as he looked back and forth between Zabuza and Haku. He clearly saw that which the assassin of the mist tried to hide, his affection for the boy sat beside him.

"Well, you've answered one of my friends questions," The other man, Danzo, spoke up, looking down at the duo with terrible disdain. "But why should we allow you into our village? What do you have to offer?"

"There are three things I have to offer. The first is our silence. We have seen firsthand the power of the Jinchuuriki of the Leaf Village," Both of the older men in the room stilled. "And we would like to keep his secret safe."

"Secondly, I am a senior ninja, with skills beyond many others in this business, and I am also a defector from one of your most famous enemies."

"Meaning?" Danzo spoke, eyeing the man suspiciously, but looking at him with a small grain of curiosity, and dare Naruto say it…

Greed.

"Meaning that, thirdly, I have information on the Mist village, tactical information, personnel information, and I also carry with me the Executioner's Blade, one of the Seven Blades of the Mist village."

The old men's eye's widened, and they looked towards each other. They shared with themselves a private conversation, with small gestures and looks. A moment later, they turned towards the two newcomers, before the Third Hokage smiled.

"We would accept your proposal, provided that you immediately share this information with us."

"That would work." Zabuza bowed slightly, clearly trying a bit to butter up the Third Hokage, and Danzo. Both of them caught it, but chose to either ignore it, or were fine with it entirely.

"Then if you would, these four will escort you to the Intelligence Corps, I will not ask you to divulge everything today, as I imagine that would take quite some time, but we will be having you meet with them a few times a week, until you have exhausted your information." Danzo spoke assertively, standing with some effort, and cracking his cane onto the ground once more.

Instantly, four ninja appeared beside him, kneeling on one leg. They stood, turned towards the assassin of the mist, and gestured for the man to follow. All five of them disappeared with a flash a second later.

"I would ask you, Team 7, to please escort this boy, along with these two," Lord Third pointed to Haku, along with Kakashi and Sasuke. "To the Leaf's hospital. All three of you carry hefty wounds, even if some of you are trying desperately to hide that fact from me."

Their teacher coughed into his hand, and the Old man smiled amusedly, before making to stand as well, effectively dismissing them all.

They left in a hurry, Naruto especially. Something within him, primal, but not the beast in his chest, told him to get as far away from that man, Danzo, as he could.

He was not to be trusted.

/-/

Hiruzen chuckled lightly as the door to his office closed, and he was left in silence with his old friend.

"It seems those kids are quite afraid of you."

"Fear of the unknown will do them will, it will ground them." Danzo turned towards him, eyes narrowed in slight annoyance. "It would do you well, too, Old friend."

"Oh? You seemed to be fine with taking those two in once they offered information."

"Yes, once they offered information, I was fine with taking it from them, but I still believe that once we have it, we should eliminate them." Danzo stepped towards the door, making slow, confident strides, despite his age. "It is always best to deal with a potential threat before it can become one."

"It is best to deal with a threat _once _it has become one." Hiruzen spoke. "Never before."

His old friend gave a dry laugh, with no mirth to it.

"You trust far too easily."

"You do not trust enough."

The man in front of him turned back to him, an apathetic expression all that remained on his features.

"We have had this conversation far too many times, I do not wish to repeat the past over and over again."

"Then perhaps you would do well to say something new one of these times." Hiruzen smiled as he said it, knowing it would annoy the old codger.

"No, Hiruzen." Danzo spoke, "If I said something new, then you would not have someone to contest your idealistic viewpoint. You'd run off with your little utopian mindset and get every one of us killed."

Danzo turned fully to face him, his single exposed eye reflecting the evening sun behind them.

"It is important that the both of us exist. You must operate in the light, and I in the shadow. That is how it must be, how it must always be."

Hiruzen guffawed, practically dropping his pipe.

"It mustn't always be this way, my friend." He spoke a bit louder than he normally would, passion worming it's way into his voice. "A time will come when we are long gone from this world, and this village will still stand, prouder than it did when we ruled it."

Danzo did not speak again, merely sighing, walking out of the door. As he was about to shut it completely. He seemed to remember something a second later, and turned back around.

"Have you gotten into contact with Jiraiya?"

Hiruzen smiled, laughing a bit as he thought of his best, and worst student.

"Yes," he spoke up, eyes glinting once more in the evening sun.

"He's on his way."

**End Chapter 9**

* * *

**Well, there we go.**

**Danzo enters the playing field much earlier than he does in canon, but we know from flashbacks and other materials that he's been acting in the leaf since Hiruzen took office, so I figured it'd be appropriate for him to show himself with important matters like the Jinchuuriki.**

**Right now, I've got nothing much else to add, so I figure I'll just end this off here.**

**Next week will return to the regular chapter length, so look forward to that.**

**See you all then!**


	10. Chapter 10

**And thus begins the final chapter of the first arc, long may he reign.**

**Without further ado, and all that jazz.**

* * *

**Chapter 10: A Small Feeling of Loss**

* * *

The trip back to the leaf, and the subsequent talks with the Hokage and his… advisor were a bit of a blur for Sasuke.

Saying he'd been tired would have been an understatement. He'd figured out the hard way that even an Uchiha could overuse the Sharingan if they were unfamiliar with it's power.

_Still, _Sasuke thought to himself as he sat in his bed at the hospital, _I figured out that I can use Genjutsu._

He'd had a feeling he'd be able to. From what his father had told him, the Uchiha had always had a bit of a specialization in Genjutsu, largely due to the Sharingan's power. His brother had also been a Genjutsu prodigy, though that wasn't saying much, that bastard had been a prodigy in just about everything he tried.

Feeling a bit of bitterness seep into his thoughts, Sasuke instead focused in on the ceiling tiles, going through the motions of counting them again. He'd already done this ten or so times by now, but it was probably the only thing _to do_ in this place at all.

_I'll have to make sure I don't end up here again._

And wasn't that an odd thought? Shouldn't it have been Naruto sitting in this bed, while Team 7 all worried and fretted about him?

The boy had nearly died, had died, for a moment there, if what Kakashi said was true.

That masked teen, Haku, had killed his best friend.

His hand balled into a fist, crinkling the scratchy hospital sheets in his hands.

The door cracked open a moment later, and the sounds of frantic whispering filled his head. It was enough to draw him out of his thoughts, and he looked towards the door to see a mop of blonde hair trying to push it's way into his room.

Another head, one with pink hair and a red bow, tried to stop him from entering.

"I told you, you idiot, he needs his rest!"

"Oh c'mon, all he's done for the last 3 days is rest! What he needs now," There were some brief sounds of struggling, before the door launched open, and Naruto vaulted himself into the room. "Is some good old-fashioned fun!"

"You are insufferable." Sakura sighed, looking towards Sasuke, and waving at him when she saw he was awake.

"Hey guys." Despite himself, the black-haired boy smiled when he looked towards the two of them. It had been 3 days since he'd seen them, and he could undoubtedly say he'd missed them.

"Hey!"

"Yo."

"So, what are you guys doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Naruto smiled mischievously, laughing under his breath. "We're busting you out of here!"

_Wait, what?_

"We are not!" Sakura sighed out, resting her head in her hands with a pained groan. "We just came to check in on you, since we figured you'd be pretty bored."

_Oh, that makes more sense._

"Well, I won't deny that." Sasuke chuckled slightly, before looking at Naruto with interest. "Naruto, why aren't you in here too, didn't you suffer any injuries in the battle?"

The boy rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, laughing nervously all the while.

"Well, apparently when I passed out after the fight, I was hurt all over, but once I woke up, all my cuts and stuff had pretty much healed."

_So, _Sasuke thought, rubbing his chin with one hand, _it is the Nine-Tails._

"But isn't that cool!" Naruto shouted, smiling brightly as he looked between the tow of them. "I mean, I healed all over in just a few hours! I might be like… Some kind of Super-Soldier!"

Sasuke thought that the boy in front of him had put 2 and 2 together and gotten 8, but chose not to burst his bubble just yet.

"Could you guys keep it down over there, some of us are trying to sleep!"

An older voice sounded off from their right, and they all turned to see Zabuza Momochi, bandages running halfway along his upper arm.

Thinking back, Sasuke remembered that the nurses had said it was normal for similarly injured comrades, those who came back from missions in the same general condition, to share a room together, as it often kept the stress levels of all involved down.

He was fairly sure she didn't know that the man she was talking about was a world-renowned assassin, famous as the Demon of the Mist, but he hadn't felt like commenting about it then, so he'd ended up with Zabuza as his roommate.

It hadn't been the worst thing ever, but it hadn't been particularly fun either.

One reason was that that damn masked boy, Haku, wouldn't stop checking in on him, and Sasuke had to keep seeing him, had to keep being reminded of his failures.

And maybe it wasn't his fault, and maybe the boy was actually really nice, and had apologized several times more than was strictly necessary. That didn't mean he would forgive him, or that he felt any better about the fight.

If one could even call it that. They'd been trounced, with barely any room for counterattack at all. They had come up with one singular plan the entire battle, and even it was defeated only a few minutes later.

Just thinking about it had Sasuke grinding his teeth together, twisting his fist further into the sheets of his bed.

He could still feel that small helplessness, like their lives were in someone else's hands, like they had no options at all.

He had decided all that time ago, when his brother had killed his entire clan, that he never wanted to feel like that again.

A hand on his shoulder had him looking up, and it was to find the worried face of his teammate, Sakura, gazing down at him.

He nodded back at her. He was fine, really, and he knew, pragmatically, that he was being a bit childish about all of this. It didn't stop him from feeling a bit angry, though.

Especially when that same boy from his thoughts walked into the room a second later, holding a bouquet of what looked to be hand-picked flowers.

Gone was the green haori of before, which had been damaged by his own kunai when he stabbed it into the boy's stomach, replaced now by a pink kimono. In Sasuke's opinion, it made the boy look even more like a young woman, but he kept such thoughts to himself.

"Zabuza sir, I've come to check in on you." Haku spoke evenly, though to him it sounded forced out, his eyes never once straying to his right, where the three of them stood quietly.

"Yeah, Brat, I know," The assassin sighed out, looking towards his student with a tender expression, but also one that held clear annoyance. "You've been saying that as you visited me every 3 hours for the past 3 days. Ever single time bringing new flowers. I told you, I'm already healed, they're just doing some final check-ups."

The boy coughed, looking down at the floor. It didn't stop him from walking over and replacing the man's 'old' flowers with the new ones, nor did it stop him from immediately starting to ask the man if he'd had any pains or if anything new was happening.

Sasuke had to suppress a small laugh, as it bubbled up from his chest and threatened to spill out.

It was a cute display; anyone could agree with that.

"Uhm… Sasuke…" Naruto spoke quietly, which was the first signal that something was either very wrong, or the boy was trying his absolute hardest to be serious. "Can you walk yet?"

"I can, but they say I can't." Sasuke grumbled, gazing down at his hands as they crumpled the sheet between them, before he looked back up towards his friend. "Did you… want to talk?"

Naruto squirmed a bit but nodded silently.

Even the Mist duo, who had been ignoring their conversation thus far, seemed to hear them.

"Hey Haku!" Sakura shouted out, smiling slightly as the boy turned towards her with a dumbfounded expression. "Where did you get those flowers?"

"These?" The boy pointed towards the vase, and when the girl nodded, he continued. "I picked them outside, from the garden in front of the hospital."

"O-Oh," The pink-haired girl's smile became just a bit forced. "That's, uhm… not entirely allowed."

Haku went pale white, before bowing fully.

"My sincerest apologies, I had no idea that-"

"It's no problem, no problem!" Sakura spoke out, before she turned towards Zabuza. "Tell you what, since you won't be able to pick any more of the flowers out front, why don't I take you two to somewhere they sell flowers instead?"

Sasuke realized what she was doing a second later, smiling subtly.

_Thanks, Sakura._

The assassin of the mist caught onto it as well, sighing slightly, before pulling his legs to the side of the bed, and stepping off. He stood a second later, though Haku looked to be trying to support him, even if the man didn't need it.

"That sounds like a good plan to me, what about you, Brat?"

The boy in question looked a bit confused but nodded a second later.

"That sounds good, Zabuza sir."

The man turned back towards Sakura.

"Lead the way, girl."

"Will do!" Sakura smiled, looking back towards the two of them and nodding, perhaps just a bit sadly, as she marched out of the room with her entourage in tow.

It took a few seconds for the silence to fade, as Sasuke finally worked up the courage to say something.

"So… uh…"

_Nice, Sasuke, really nice._

"I uhm…" Naruto, it seemed, was also having some issues coming up with what to say.

Sasuke sighed, realizing that it was probably best to trigger the paper bomb directly, rather than dance around it their entire conversation.

"You died."

Naruto coughed, briefly choking on air, before he brought himself back under control, looking towards Sasuke a bit oddly.

"I really didn't think you'd come out and say that!"

"Honestly? Neither did I." He admitted, sitting up in his bed and leaning back against the wall behind him. "But… one of us had to."

"Yeah, I guess…"

Another bout of silence, but this one was much more short-lived.

"I spoke to it."

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and a chill ran down his spine. He looked up at his friend, but the boy wasn't meeting his eyes.

"The Nine-Tailed fox spoke to me twice, once when I… went berserk I guess, and once after you guys saved me." Naruto shivered slightly, whether out of fear, or disgust, or maybe just because the boy was cold, he couldn't tell. "It told me that it had a plan for me… I think it's going to keep trying to take over my body…"

Naruto exhaled with some force, before he looked back up at him, seemingly unafraid.

"I decided… that I'm not going to let that concern me."

"What!?" Sasuke practically screamed out, gazing into his friends eyes for any sign of deceit.

He found none.

"If I just sat and lived my entire life in fear, then if the Nine-Tails _did _manage to take over my body, I wouldn't have done anything at all!" Naruto spoke, seeming incredibly proud of himself. "So, I just decided to worry about it when it comes up again, but not before then."

"That's…"

Stupid. Asinine. Foolhardy.

"So like you." Sasuke smirked, snickered slightly, and then gave into his mirth a second later, laughing for quite a while before he could get himself under control.

"Also… about that stuff I said about being Hokage…" Naruto muttered quietly, sitting at the end of his bed, but facing away from him. "I…"

"Don't worry about it."

"Wha-? But you seemed so sad, I just wanted to…" Naruto seemed to fumble around some words in his head, but whatever he arrived at didn't seem to satisfy the boy.

"I told you, Naruto, it's fine." He smiled, even if the boy couldn't see it. "You were dying, or at least, you thought you were. You probably just said things you didn't mean."

Naruto stilled. Even from behind, Sasuke could see the boy's thoughts warring in his head, as he gripped the sheet in his hands.

"Y-Yeah! That must've been it." The boy turned back towards him. The smile he gave was hollow, more so than he'd ever seen it. It felt like if he touched the boy, he'd simply crumble into dust.

"Naruto?"

"I've gotta go, y'know, training and stuff!" The boy stood off of the bed, his face a complicated mess of emotions. "Sorry about leaving you here all by yourself, I know it must be-"

The boy stopped as Sasuke grabbed his arm, holding him in place.

"You will become Hokage."

Naruto's face blanched.

"W-what are-"

"I said you'll become Hokage!" Sasuke seethed, his teeth grinding together as he looked the boy in the eye. "Or you'll become a hero, or a househusband, or a painter, or whatever else it is you want to do!"

The boy in front of him stood stunned, unable to do anything but listen as he practically shouted at him.

"Whatever it is you want to do; you _can _do it! Those people in the shopping district, or the ninjas who used to pour things on you, or the kids who'd call you names, you don't need to listen to them! You should ignore them, cast them aside, forget all about them! As far as I'm concerned…"

Sasuke felt a familiar feeling in the back of his head, and realized with a small shock that his Sharingan had swirled into being.

"They can all go to hell!"

His breathing was heavy as he released his grip on Naruto's arm, falling back onto his bed with a pain behind his eyes.

His friend opened his mouth to speak, but the only noise that escaped him was a small squeak, like he'd lost his voice, but still tried to talk. A few seconds later, the boy turned around, and made for the door.

He stopped short, his hand resting along the frame, running up it in silent contemplation.

"I want to."

It was a quiet voice, and it didn't carry well in the small room, but Sasuke heard it.

"Want to what?"

Naruto looked back towards him, smiling a bit sadly.

"I want to become Hokage."

And with that, his friend walked out, and Sasuke was left alone.

His confidence, screaming out that he _would _become Hokage, seemed missing, instead replaced by a desire. He didn't know if he could anymore, perhaps he'd always been faking it, a false bravado, for his own sake.

But for Sasuke, just the knowledge that he still wanted it, still sought after his goal, was enough.

It meant he could seek his own, as well.

He laid back down, content to try and sleep again, until the nurses released him.

And yet, for some reason…

It never came.

/-/

The Leaf Village, Haku decided, was a bit too warm for his liking.

Everyone, everywhere, was just a bit too friendly, just a bit too nice, that it almost seemed fake. And maybe it wasn't, maybe everyone here was actually as nice as the performances they put on, but it didn't feel that way to him.

Kirigakure was not an overwhelmingly hostile place, not by any stretch of the imagination. It's ninja program could be, of course, and it was for that reason that it had earned its reputation as the bloody mist. Still, from what he'd seen, civilian life was much the same as it was here.

But the people were colder, more introverted, and Haku honestly thought he liked it better that way.

Still, Sakura was nice, that he could say with certainty. The girl was leading he and his master through Konoha, occasionally waving to someone or another in the crowd, or pointing out an interesting landmark to him, or buying him a sickly sugary treat (that he had a hard time not instantly devouring).

As she walked them into what he could only assume was the flower shop she spoke of earlier, shouting out "Ino!", he saw the girl behind the counter.

_She's pretty._

It was a fairly blanket statement, and Haku felt it didn't really do the girl justice. She was gorgeous, in the same way that a sunflower was. She seemed to blot out the rest of the world, and as he focused in on her platinum blonde hair, and her pale blue eyes, he didn't think he'd ever seen someone quite so beautiful.

She walked over towards Sakura, and as the two conversed, he quickly realized that the girls must've known each other. The blonde, who's name he picked up was Ino, smiled and laughed along with many of the things the pink-haired girl said, in a way that seemed familiar to him.

He stood a bit too straight as the girl looked over to the two of them, Zabuza standing just a bit behind him. The girl waved at him, giving him a small wink as well, as she walked over, and Haku felt his cheeks might have caught fire.

"Yo, brat, you alright?" His master called from behind him, sounding not too worried.

"Y-yes, sir, I'm fine." He spoke back, taking a small step towards the girls, who looked over at him with a small curiosity.

"You just look like you're burning up is all." His sensei spoke, not looking down at him, but instead taking a step into the place, grimacing slightly, and remarking. "Gods, but I hate places like this."

"Z-Zabuza sir!" Haku felt the need to defend the shop he'd been in for perhaps 30 or so seconds.

_Why, though? I don't even like it all that much._

"And we hate you too, sir." The blonde called out, smiling at her own joke.

It must've been a good one, because it had the man chuckling for a moment.

"Alright, fair enough." His sensei gestured towards him, giving him the initiative. "This brat here wants to buy a bouquet, and honestly, I don't know a damned thing about em'."

"That's fine, I'm more than adept at handling first time customers." The girl's voice was overly friendly, and even if Haku knew, deep down, that it was only because she was trying to take their money, it didn't fail to make his heart skip a beat.

_What is this thing I'm feeling?_

He realized with horror that the girl in front of him had been waiting for him to say something for at least 5 seconds.

"Uhm, Hello." He bowed deeply, before raising back up, his face redder than a tomato. "My name is Haku."

From off to the side, he thought he could see his master's bemused face.

"Yes, I know." Ino smiled a bit awkwardly. "Sakura just introduced you."

"Oh…" He laughed nervously, trying not to draw out a kunai and kill himself then and there, just to save himself the embarrassment. "Did she?"

"Oh my god." Zabuza spoke quietly, but not quite quiet enough for them to unable to hear him. "This isn't happening."

"Yes, but, just in case you hadn't heard, I'm Ino Yamanaka." She bowed slightly, clearly trying to reign this conversation back under control.

He was perfectly content to allow that, seeing as how he'd been making an ass of himself this whole time.

"Well, do you have any idea where you'd like to start? Any particular flowers you like the look of, or even just your favorite color?"

"I-I like sunflowers."

_I don't. I don't like sunflowers at all. What is happening?_

Over on the side of the shop, he could see Zabuza's head fall into his hands, and heard him mutter something that sounded vaguely like "Puberty."

Well, whatever the hell this puberty thing was, it didn't seem to be helping him much at all.

/-/

Kakashi sat silently, rereading for perhaps the thousandth time his favorite book in the Icha-Icha franchise.

"Kaaaaaaaaaakasshiiiiiii!"

Or it had been quiet, until a leotard wearing man came flying in through his open window, spinning dramatically upon landing, and shooting him a thumbs up.

"Hey Guy."

"Yo!" Guy spoke out as he brought a folding chair out of what might as well have been thin air, setting it down in front of his bed and sitting on it. "How've you been?"

"What's with the awkward small talk?" Kakashi smiled under his mask, eyeing the man curiously. "It's not much like you."

"Ah, my students, well, two of them, anyways, have told me I should try to be more approachable recently, so I've been striving to act more normally." Guy brought his hair back with his hand, and the grease in it coated it in a bit of a gross way. "How was it?"

"Eheh… maybe just do you" Kakashi said, feeling a bit bad for the man, but knowing he'd rather have him be honest.

"Ah, you see, that's what my other student, Lee, said, and I quite like him, so I figured I'd give the other's plan a shot, but then just trust Lee's opinion."

_Anyone who thinks Guy should just be himself is probably not all there themselves._

_Maybe I shouldn't say that._

"That's good."

"Isn't it? My team's coming along quite nicely, in fact, I think they're more than ready to be able to enter this year's Chuunin Exams!"

"Ah, yeah… I'd been planning on entering my team as well."

"W-what!?" Guy seemed genuinely shocked, looking at Kakashi a bit differently. "Oi, Kakashi, you've only been training your kids for what… a month or two? That's not long enough for them to build the skills necessary for the Exams, and you know that."

"Heh, were we given any time?"

The man in front of him sighed, eyeing him annoyedly.

"That was different, those times were different. We can afford to properly prepare our students for what they might face now."

"I think one of the reasons the both of us survived our greatest hardships," Kakashi leaned forward, propping his head up with one arm. "Is we were thrust into situations we weren't necessarily prepared for and forced to adapt."

"That's true, and it's also true that many hundreds of hopeful students die every year because they were forced to enter a competition they were unprepared for." Guy squinted at him, seeming a bit annoyed with him.

"Oh, cool it," Kakashi waved his hand in the air, as if trying to dispel his friends anger. "I can't enter them now, anyways, the nurse says I'm going to be in the Hospital for the next 3 weeks. The Chuunin exams start up in only 2, and they need a functioning Jonin Sensei to compete."

"Hmph, well that's good."

"Good that I'm injured?"

"In this case?" Guy smirked to show he was kidding around. "Yes."

Kakashi laughed at the small joke.

"Nice to know you think so well of me."

"Still, were your students really that good?" Guy leaned back in his seat, his arms hanging off of the sides. He couldn't help but notice that even now, the man was curling a small set of dumbbells behind the chair.

"They're strong, and they have some serious potential."

"Define serious?"

"I'm talking old-school serious, Naruto's the… well… do you know about-"

"Your students a Jinchuuriki, yeah, I know about it." Guy smiled, though it was a bit forced. "It'd be hard not to, seeing as it was the only thing half the people in the village would talk about a few months back, 'they actually made the Nine-Tailed brat a ninja', and stuff like that."

"Well, there's also the last Uchiha, and then Sakura herself, who probably had the least potential on paper, soaks up new Jutsu like a sponge. I've already taught her how to do the Mud Wall, and how to tree-climb and water-walk. Hell, she nailed tree-climbing on her first attempt.

Guy chuckled a bit to himself, smiling in an almost proud way.

"You sound like a proud parent."

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up."

"No, I'm serious." Guy leaned forward, setting the dumbbells aside. "I'm happy for you, I'm glad you've been able to… get back on your feet recently."

Kakashi knew what the man was talking about, how he'd been near suicidal in some of his more recent Anbu missions. He hadn't thought it obvious to anyone else, but perhaps taking on missions solo, tasks that should've been handled by large groups, was a bit too conspicuous.

"Ah… yeah." He wasn't quite sure how to respond, and instead elected to sitting silently for the man in front of him to speak again.

Luckily, when it came to Guy, you often didn't have to wait long.

Unfortunately, when it came to Guy, you often didn't have the benefit of social cues.

"Just… after what happened to Obito, and then Rin and Minato…" Guy smiled a bit sadly. "I think we all thought we'd lose you some time or another… that one day you'd go on another one of your crazed missions and you just… wouldn't come back."

_Erk… way to make me feel like an asshole Guy._

"I'm not sure if things are all that better," The man continued, standing up off his chair and folding it back up, walking over to the window. "Or if they're on the upswing, but know this, my friend."

Guy looked back towards him and gave him a toothy grin that seemed to shine, along with another thumbs-up.

"No matter what happens, we've all got your back!"

Kakashi felt that the words would've had more impact if the man hadn't immediately hurled himself out of a 4-story window, but the laughter still helped to keep his mood up.

_Everyone…_

How many of his old classmates were still alive?

_Kurenai, Asuma, Aoba, Guy… Is that really all?_

He was fairly sure he was missing one or two, he vaguely remembered Orochimaru, that bastard, having a student who'd been in their class, but couldn't remember if she'd survived the war.

_Anko, or something?_

He sighed tiredly. There'd been 32 kids in his class, and only a handful of them were still alive. He was willing to bet a few had retired after the war, choosing a home life as an alternative to warfare, but the rest…

Hadn't been so lucky.

He nearly laughed at that.

_Am I one of the lucky ones?_

The wound in his heart, the one that was so deep it didn't even hurt, gave a tiny ache.

_Rin… Minato… Obito…_

_I don't feel all that lucky._

/-/

Naruto didn't quite know how to feel as he walked around the leaf village, nor did he really know where he was going.

Well, he knew where he was supposed to be going, but not particularly if he planned on being there.

Team 7, minus Kakashi, had been called to the Hokage's office in order for him to ask some questions about their mission, in order to corroborate Zabuza's story. That sounded good enough, and also like something he didn't really need to be there for.

Seeing as how he'd been on a monster-induced rampage the whole time.

"Naruto?"

The voice was familiar, but it was one he hadn't heard in quite a while.

"Iruka Sensei?" He turned around to see the form of his old teacher, brightly illuminated by the harsh sunset.

"Good to see you, Naruto!" His former sensei clapped him on the back softly, stepping in to walk alongside him. "What have you been up to lately?"

"Oh, you know… missions."

"That's odd." Iruka smiled wryly.

"What's odd?"

"You just didn't used to be someone who avoided questions." His teacher gave him a knowing look, and even if he was no longer his teacher, the man's old methods of getting him to talk still seemed to be working.

"I-I… Sensei… did you know about the Nine-Tailed Fox?"

His teacher let out a small gasp, before instantly swallowing it, forcing a small smile onto his face.

"Yes, yes I did."

He felt a flash of hot anger and rounded on the man with a growl.

"Why didn't you tell me then!"

"What?"

"If you knew… if you'd always known about it, then why the hell didn't you tell me! Why didn't anyone tell me!?" Naruto was aware that some of the people around them were giving him frightened looks, and that a few of the ninja had drawn weapons, but found himself unwilling to care. "Why did you just let everyone yell at me, day in and day out, without ever telling me why!?"

"Is Sasuke… Is he really the only one who cares about me at all!?" Naruto shouted out, nearly falling onto the ground, but catching himself before he could.

"Why's that kid screaming, mom?"

"Ignore him, dear."

"Nine-Tailed brat's getting uppity."

"Think we could use that as an excuse to put him down?"

"We'd be doing the village a service."

He felt a growing resentment, a feeling he'd kept caged for so long, burning in his throat. A few tears ran down his face, but he didn't much care.

He was about to scream out, maybe even turn and run at them, let them see the Nine-Tails' power for themselves, when Iruka put his hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Hey, Naruto?"

"…What?"

"Could I treat you to some ramen?"

It was an innocent question, filled with no real emotion, other than perhaps a small sadness, a small feeling of loss, but he still looked up into his teacher's face.

The man wore an expression that shouted calm, which of course meant he was anything but. His brow was drawn down into a scowl, as much as he tried to hide it. The man was clearly as angry as he was, perhaps more so in a way.

Seeing the man above him look at him like that, Naruto couldn't quite describe it, but it made the feeling in his throat, that tightness, increase even more. He felt exhausted, and worn out, but he couldn't help the small tears that ran down his face as he collapsed onto the ground.

"I'm sorry…"

"You don't have to be sorry, Naruto, I understand."

"I… I'm sorry I yelled at you… and…"

"Then I accept your apology." His teacher offered him a hand, and Naruto took it a moment later, drying his eyes with his sleeve. "Now, really this time, could I treat you to some ramen?"

Naruto smiled, and even if he didn't feel like he was all there yet, he couldn't help but feel a bit happier as he accepted his teacher's offer, and the two walked towards Ichiraku side by side.

_'I want to be Hokage'_

Those had been his own words… his own _real _confidence, and not the usual bravado he spouted. Perhaps, realistically, he had a very small chance of becoming the Hokage.

But to hell with realism, it hadn't gotten him very far at all, because it turned out he had a giant demon fox sealed inside his stomach. So who said he couldn't become the Hokage, too?

_Oh, just everyone in the village._

He ground his teeth together as his own treacherous mind fed him the dark thoughts he'd been holding back, trying not to sink into them.

It didn't do much for him, not until his friend's words practically rang out inside his head.

_'They can all go to hell!'_

He laughed slightly, trying to keep it under wraps, but couldn't quite help it spilling out of him a second or so later, as his calm facade broke down in his seat at Ichiraku. The duo behind the counter gave him an odd look, but still smiled that the boy who'd been a bit sad earlier could now laugh jovially.

_To hell with them all, eh? That doesn't sound so bad._

Who cared what they all thought? They'd be proven wrong anyways, so why did it matter?

And maybe, if that niggling doubt still held in the back of his mind, then that was fine too. He'd prove himself wrong, as well. He'd keep up the facade, like he always had, as long as he had to.

He'd be the Hokage, he'd be the best damn Hokage this world had ever seen!

_And don't any of you ever forget it!_

**End Chapter 10**

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**Yo.**

**Getting back into the swing of things was harder than I expected, after I basically took a week off last week. ****I think my family's going to be moving in the coming months, which will most definitely put this story on hold, but until then, expect regular updates and stuff.**

**Also, if I'm being honest, I didn't read through this chapter as much as I normally do, so some sentences might be kinda crappy.**

**Chuunin Exams is next, and that'll be a good time. Our changes are going to start having a big affect on the world.**

**See you all next week!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Well, well, well. Look what we have here.**

**Chuunin Exams: START!**

**By the way, I don't respond to many reviews, but I do read absolutely every single one, so just know that if you've ever left a review on this story, whether good or bad, you've had an effect on the final product in some way, and that I superdy-duperdy appreciate all of them. Thanks for all the support!**

**Without further ado, blah blah blah, you get the point.**

* * *

**Chapter 11: Frustration with the Way Things Are  
**

* * *

"Uhm… Sensei?" The blonde-haired child spoke curiously, sitting down at the foot of Kakashi's bed with his teammates, and generally trying to create as much ruckus as he could. "What're the Chuunin Exams?"

The man coughed violently, hacking into his own sheets as he desperately tried to pretend he hadn't heard that. It had been his idea to simply not tell his team about the exams, and hope they'd miss the cut-off point for entering.

"Naruto, you didn't know?" Sakura spoke out, standing and picking up a magazine from beside his bed, flipping it around a bit before settling on a specific page. She pushed it up into her teammates face and gestured towards it. "The Chuunin Exams are a bi-annual event, held by each village on a rotating schedule, open to all other villages. The Leaf Village is hosting this year."

"Oh, seriously?" Naruto peered a bit skeptically at the article, reading for just a moment, before he let out a small "Huh."

There was a small bit of silence as the boy continued to read, accompanied only by the soft ticking of a clock on the opposite wall, before, with a gasp, Naruto turned back towards the three of them.

"Wait a second, that means we get to compete, right!?"

Kakashi coughed awkwardly, not quite sure how to disappoint the boy without… well… disappointing the boy.

"Obviously not, doofus," Sasuke spoke up, lightly smacking the boy on his shoulder, before pointing down at the words on the page. "It says right here we'd need a Jonin Sensei, and ours is out of commission."

"Aww, what!?" The blonde fell backwards, scrunching down onto the mattress beneath him and letting out a long, pained whine. "But I wanna'!"

"Did you not hear me earlier, it's bi-annual." Sakura sat back down on the bed, just beside Naruto and Sasuke. "You'll get another chance in a couple months, and you'll get to have a lot more training going into it. Hell, I don't even know if we'd be ready for it if we took it now."

"But wouldn't that be half the fun?" Naruto spoke up, holding his arms wide around him. "I mean, it's like… like we're the main characters or something."

Naruto made a serious face, parodying a character one might read about in an ancient tale.

"Caught with their backs against the wall, can our heroes defeat the world's strongest ninja, and rise to the rank of Chuunin!?" He finished by raising his hands into the air and taking a very dramatic action pose.

Sasuke chopped him on his forehead a second later, and the boy gave a small "Ow" as he let his arms fall back onto the bed.

"I really was planning on letting you all take them, though," Kakashi spoke up, closing his Icha-Icha book and setting it on his bedside table. "You've all exceeded my expectations; I really didn't think you'd have that much of a problem with the exams."

"Really?" Naruto looked over to him, eyes sparkling.

"Really." He smiled back at the boy, and watched as his face lit up, looking back towards the other two and smiling a bit embarrassedly.

He'd noticed that the boy never really took compliments well, and whether that was a result of his upbringing, or just a small personality quirk, he didn't think it to be all that important. It was endearing, at the very least.

"So, wait." Naruto spoke up a second later, scratching his chin. "All we'd have to do to compete is get a Jonin Sensei?"

"Er…" Kakashi didn't really know how to respond to the look of raw mischief on the boy's face, like he'd just thought of the world's most amazing prank. "I suppose?"

Naruto's eyes widened, and he looked suspiciously like a certain nine-tailed fox himself as he chuckled, rubbing his hands together in a way that made him look a bit like an evil genius.

"I don't much like that expression." Sasuke spoke, eyes narrowed in a suspicious way. "What are you planning?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing…" Naruto slid off of the bed, took calm, careful steps towards the door, and gave them a shit-eating grin of frankly epic proportions. "I've just got an idea is all."

And with that, the boy closed the door behind him, the sounds of his footsteps echoing into their room for only a second or two longer before they too faded.

"Why does he only ever look like that when he's trying to do something stupid?" Sakura sighed, massaging her temple with her fingers, making small circles. "I swear, enemies would run the hell away if they saw him look like that in a fight, but noooo, it's all screaming and shadow clones!"

"I don't think they'd run," Sasuke spoke, grinning as he twirled a pencil in his fingers. "They'd probably just laugh at him, and then all of a sudden they'd find themselves caught in a 30-layer trap."

"Yeah, that sounds about right." The girl laughed as she said it, leaning back onto the bed with a sigh. "The only reason we know to avoid him when he's like that is experience."

"What do you guys mean?" Kakashi leaned back into his pillows, trying to get comfortable as he listened to his students talk.

Sakura grinned, as did Sasuke, the two of them sharing a small look before giggling a bit.

"Everyone thinks Naruto's this dumb oaf, but he's actually pretty smart, he just doesn't apply any of it to things that don't interest him." Sasuke raised his arms up, in a 'what can you do' gesture. "I mean, who else could figure out a way to set up an entire scaffold rigging on the Hokage Monument, and make it so that he could paint all four of the faces, in just a few days?"

Kakashi laughed just thinking about it, the boy must have thought long and hard about it, slaving away in a notebook somewhere as he came up with plans. Or, perhaps he was more like himself, and things just came naturally to him, perhaps Naruto was better on the fly.

"That does seem a bit ridiculous."

"Oh, but it doesn't stop there!" Sakura spoke up this time, groaning as she massaged her face with her hands again. "When we were trying to figure out a way to get back at you for leaving us on the training field for 3 hours, and telling us not to eat anything, it was Naruto who came up with the idea to set all of us up as his clones!"

"I mean, honestly, if he'd applied that level of intellect to class, he probably could've been a top student or something!" The pink-haired girl sighed, smiling a bit even still. "If I'm being honest, though, I just don't think that would've worked."

"What wouldn't have worked?" Kakashi asked.

"Naruto as some genius." Sakura spoke, looking towards Sasuke and smirking, holding in her laughter. "I mean, could you imagine Naruto as some broody edge-lord like him?"

"I resent that." The black-haired boy spoke out quietly, looking a bit annoyed at his teammate, who rolled with laughter as she fell back onto the bed. "Oi!"

Kakashi himself smiled as he looked upon his students faces, as they argued incessantly about this and that, he could tell that they all truly cared for one another.

They sat for a while after that, doing various different things. Kakashi himself took to rereading his favorite chapters for the umpteenth time, going back through them with a fine-toothed comb to try and find anything he'd missed.

He was just about to give up and try to find something else to do when the door was practically kicked down, and Naruto entered the room, dragging a disgruntled-looking Zabuza behind him.

"Ta-Dah!" Naruto exclaimed, gesturing towards the confused looking assassin with both of his hands.

"Er… what?" Sakura spoke, scratching the side of her head.

"That's my question as well!" The Mist ninja said, as he pulled his arm free from Naruto's. "You said there was a situation, so what the hell are we doing here!?"

"Well, there _was _a situation, though it perhaps wasn't as serious as I made it sound…" Naruto rubbed his chin, looking down at the floor. "But that doesn't matter!"

"Uhm," Zabuza exclaimed, looking for the second time since Kakashi had met the man completely lost for words. "It kind of does matter!"

Naruto continued on like the man hadn't spoken at all.

"I found us our Jonin Sensei!"

A strange silence once again descended upon the room, and Kakashi looked around to see his students with confused, yet curious looks on their faces.

"Wait, really?"

"No! Not really!" Zabuza shouted, looking down towards Naruto with an annoyed expression. "I never once agreed to that!"

"Eh, semantics." The blonde boy waved his hand, as if to dispel the man's paltry argument.

"It is very much so _not_ Semantics!"

Kakashi was desperately holding in a laugh, trying not to crack and have the assassin from the mist murder him.

"I'm not going to be your babysitter," The demon of the mist exclaimed, standing over Naruto, and casting a shadow upon him. "Find someone else, because I'm not doing it!"

/-/

"So, I agreed to be their Jonin Sensei." His master spoke, as Haku aimlessly poked and prodded at the flowers on the wall.

"Oh? I wouldn't have thought you'd want to do that."

"Well, I obviously don't want to, but the Hokage said that if I did, then he would reduce my wait-time to be able to take on missions to the end of the Chuunin Exams, instead of the usual 6 months for defectors."

"Why is it 6 months?" The ice-user felt like asking, not really seeing too much of a point in a wait at all.

"It's because of spy's and their ilk." Zabuza commented, leaning against the doorway behind him. "basically, having six months to be able to tell if someone's a spy among hundreds of ninja in the village to keep an eye on them is a lot better than immediately sending them out on missions, where only a handful of other's can watch them at any time."

"Oh, OK." Haku realized the point now, it was just a security measure. The leaf village was just being as careful as it could be. Still, if they were so paranoid, why open their borders to defectors at all?

Zabuza massaged his temples, groaning aloud as he looked around the shop.

"Brat, could you at least try and be subtle about this?"

"W-what are you talking about?" Haku felt a bead of sweat slide down his face. "I'm just picking some flowers!"

"The same flowers? For twenty minutes?" His master shot him an unimpressed look, as he pointed towards the front desk, where a certain blonde-haired girl sat, looking bored as she clicked the back of a pen over and over. "In direct line of sight of your crush over there?"

Haku coughed and hacked, sputtering out denials as fast as he could.

"I-I don't like her, I'm just here for the flowers!"

Zabuza gave him a deadpan expression.

"Honestly! They have an incredibly impressive selection!"

His master looked to be barely registering what he was saying.

"I-I'm being completely serious! I really don't like her like that!"

"So you admit you do like her?"

"W-What!? No! I-I said that I don't like her!"

"Why preface that statement with 'like that' then?"

"Because I- That is to say…. I'm…"

Zabuza sighed, giving a small groan of pain as well.

"Goddamn puberty."

"What the hell is this puberty thing anyways!?"

The entire shop went silent, and Haku realized with a pale face that he'd just screamed that quite loudly.

"Ask someone else."

"W-What? But why?"

"Kid, I do an _awful _lot for you," Zabuza kneeled down in front of him, and gave him a completely honest look. "But I absolutely refuse to give you the talk."

/-/

A boy's body hit dirt at breakneck speeds, a small crater forming around him as he groaned out in pain, before sitting up a second later.

An outstretched palm was all he could see, poised to strike him once more. The boy already knew the words that would come from his master's mouth before they were spoken.

"Winner, Neji!" Guy Sensei shouted loudly, raising his left arm, and pointing it towards the Hyuga, who stood out of his crouch and walked over towards his other teammate, TenTen, leaning against a wooden log a way's away.

Lee pounded his fist into the dirt as he got up, feeling more than a little aggravated with himself.

He'd never beaten Neji, and he knew he never would. Well, that wasn't true, with the work he was putting into his current fights with the boy, he knew he'd never defeat him. Lee knew he _could _beat the boy, but that battle was reserved for a more serious occasion, one where others would watch and see that hard work could truly defeat genius.

An occasion like the Chuunin Exams, for instance.

He'd unleash the Forbidden Jutsu his master had taught him, he'd take off the weights that he always wore, and he'd show the world the true power of effort!

He walked over to his master and teammates, who were all taking drinks out of their flasks and talking neutrally.

It was strange, though, because it seemed like everyone was talking a bit more forcibly than usual, making small talk for the sake of it.

Team Guy had never had a truly friendly relationship. He'd have likened it to more of a working relationship, where everyone knew it'd be easier to get along than not to.

TenTen made an absent comment about the upcoming exams, which seemed to pull Neji's attention towards her, and he idly spoke about their team's chances, or, more than likely, his own.

"It's obvious we'll be the victors; we have destiny on our side after all." Neji gave a small chuckle, as if he was above it all. "Just follow my lead in the earlier stages, and I'll win us the knockouts for free."

"Don't get overconfident, Neji," Guy Sensei said, putting his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Being sure of one's self is good; but underestimating one's opponent can only lead to failure."

"Is it truly underestimating them if I _am _giving them the benefit of the doubt?" Neji scoffed, flicking the man's hand off of his shoulder and walking away from them all. "They simply have no hope against me, it's not terribly hard to figure it out."

Their teacher sighed as the boy walked out of earshot, leaving to go and train himself even more. Despite his proclamations that the weak could never overcome the strong through training, Neji seemed to be fairly hypocritical in continuing to train despite that.

Lee felt that perhaps he should have pointed that out, but he didn't particularly care either way. It honestly made him feel a bit better about his internal dislike of the boy whenever he was rude or mean to them all. It helped to make him feel justified.

And that internal dislike made him feel disgusted with himself. Neji had had just as tough a life as any of them, and the things that had happened to him were no better than what had happened to himself.

It was as he was agonizing over this and that that Guy Sensei walked over, and sat down next to him, smiling up at him with a small sparkle on his pearly white teeth.

"Learn anything, Lee?"

"From that fight, Guy Sensei?" He looked back towards their small arena, the hole in the ground into which Neji had launched him, and admitted. "I shouldn't try and come at him from below, Neji's Byakugan gives him a full 360-degree range of vision, thusly an attack from any angle might as well be an attack from the front."

"Meaning?" Guy smiled up at him to show him that he was on the right track, but having to say what the both of them already knew didn't make him feel much better.

"Meaning that I simply have to work on my fundamentals more, there's no real trick to beating him." He looked towards the edge of the horizon, where he could just make out the figure of Neji disappearing over the top of it. "The only thing that can defeat him is skill."

"Unfortunately for you," His teacher spoke out, standing with a small smile. "You're correct."

Guy Sensei looked back towards the third member of their team, who was reading a combat manual about one of her new tools.

"And what about you, TenTen, you lost to both Lee and Neji today, what did you learn?"

Lee winced, knowing that the girl had always struggled to take wins off of either of them, her strategy of sticking in one spot and throwing out attacks from it was highly effective on a battlefield for instance, but against just one other ninja, far faster than you?

It was more like suicide.

"I didn't learn anything today, Sensei." TenTen admitted with a frown, though she covered it a second later with the fakest smile Lee had ever seen. "I have to be more agile in order to deal with faster opponents, which directly counteracts my style of being an immovable fortress."

"You could do to be more versatile, TenTen." Their master spoke up, as he walked over to the girl and gave her a pat on the back. "It isn't your fault that you're pitted against two of the fastest ninja in the leaf village, but it is your fault that you refuse to learn to fight against those who counteract your style. On the battlefield, such straightforwardness could get you killed."

The girl gave a small growl, but took a deep breath, calming herself down as she looked up towards her teacher.

"Then, Sensei, what would you have me do?"

"Learn to use each of your weapons, or, hell," Guy picked up a crescent shaped blade from the ground, a small sickle, and handed it to TenTen. "Learn to use just one of your weapons in your offhand as a defensive measure."

Guy took the small sickle in one hand, flipped it around a few times, and tossed it to the other, effortlessly wielding the weapon.

"Teach yourself some mild hand-to-hand combat, and learn specifically how to disengage from an opponent with superior speed than-"

"You think I haven't tried that!?"

The sound of birds flapping off in the distance was the only sound in the clearing for quite a while. Both Lee and Guy stood silently, shocked that the normally quiet and friendly TenTen would yell with such vitriol.

"I'm just not that good at it, Sensei." TenTen let out in a sad voice, covering her face with her hands. "I'm no prodigy with this stuff, OK? I tried to learn how to use a weapon in my left hand, but by the time I draw it, my chakra points have already been shut down by Neji, or I've already taken a kick to the stomach from Lee, or some other kid has cast a Jutsu on me!"

The girl balled her fists, striking the earth she sat upon with all her might.

"I'm not fast enough, or I'm not strong enough, or I'm not versatile enough!" She stood up, not quite screaming at them, but certainly talking a lot louder than she usually did. "I can't even beat a kid who has no chakra at all!"

No one spoke, and even nature itself, usually uncaring to the plights of man, seemed to stand in perfect stillness for just a moment. The world was completely quiet as Guy reached his hand out to the girl, who batted it away.

Lee had been wrong, earlier, because he could say with fair certainty that the smile the girl wore now was the fakest smile he'd ever seen.

"Sorry, you two, I don't know what came over me there." TenTen gave a quiet, mirthless laugh, as she walked over to where she'd been sitting before and grabbed her bag of tools, along with her massive weapons summoning scroll. "Th-that was really weird, huh? Me of all people, right?"

"TenTen, are you-?"

"Well, then," The girl in front of them looked to be trying desperately to get the two of them to forget they saw anything at all, waving forcefully at the two of them with her left hand as she slung the large weapon's scroll along her shoulder. "I suppose I'll talk to the both of you later."

The girl took a step backwards, then another, and gave them another mirthless laugh. It cut off about halfway through, giving way to a small squeaking sound. A second later, TenTen turned around and fled, running away from their clearing and into the forests beyond.

Guy seemed to be completely spent, falling to a heap on the ground, letting out a long, pained sigh.

"Hey, Lee?"

"Yes, Sensei?"

The man gave him a sad smile, that looked so terribly foreign on his face.

"Where did I mess this up?"

/-/

"So, you see…" Zabuza spoke with a red face, looking truly mortified as he spoke the next words. "When a boy and girl… love each other, or something…"

Haku gasped, desperately trying once again to escape the rope he'd been tied down with. His master had suddenly started talking about this stuff after they'd left the flower shop, saying that it was for 'Haku's own good.'

He didn't believe that bullshit for one second! This stuff was horrifying!

When he'd tried to run away the first time, the man had tied him to a chair, forcing him to listen to his insane babbling.

"Master, please, whatever I've done to deserve this, I apologize!"

"He has to take out his-"

"Why!? What did I do!?" Haku struggled horribly against the ropes, biting down on them with his teeth. "What have I done!?"

"And put it in her-"

"Master, I'm begging you," Haku screeched out. "At this point, I'd rather you just kill me!"

"No, Brat," Zabuza spoke, completely serious, despite his pale, and yet still flushed face. "I can't do that."

"Why!? Why the hell can't you do that!?"

Zabuza looked him dead in the eyes, the man's face for the first time what Haku could call a demon.

"Because that would be too easy." He spoke, even past the shaking of his lips. "For the both of us."

/-/

A loud scream emanated from the depths of the women's bath, as all of the patrons ran towards the changing room, holding towels up to their bodies to cover their private areas.

"Hey, wait!" A voice called out as an old, white haired man waded through the water, chasing after them. "Come back!"

He was hit in the face a second later by a small washing bin, and then another, before, with a chorus of "Get out, pervert!", a bombardment of items began to make their way towards the white-haired old man.

He let out a small yell as he ran away, nearly cresting atop the surface of the water as he jumped the bamboo fence separating the male and female baths, and then the next fence that led out into the village.

As he landed upon the stone road below him, he got a pretty good look at his outfit.

Or in this case, lack thereof.

"Mommy, why isn't that man wearing any clothes?"

"Who's that, Dad?"

"Is he a pervert?"

"Why yes, dear, he is!"

The old man took a look around, and then, with a teary face, ran away into the streets, screaming back towards all who had seen him…

"I'm not a pervert! I was doing very crucial research!"

"Like anyone would believe that, you pervert!

"Damn creep!"

"Pedophile!"

He felt a small, angry tick on his forehead.

"Hey! That's just rude!"

It was a shame, because he'd been fairly sure that hiding himself inside of one of his frogs and telling it that he was on a highly secret espionage mission, and that, at all costs, he couldn't be seen, had been a pretty good idea.

It was a shame, then, that once the frog had realized what he'd been trying to do, he'd immediately spat him out.

Directly into the middle of the women's bath.

It'd been even more of a shame that his clothes had still been in the frog's mouth.

"I'll get you all for this, if my name isn't Jiraiya, the Gallant Toad Sage, I will have my revenge!"

"Revenge for what? Getting caught!?"

"Get the hell out of here, you damned creep!"

"Who the hell would say his name at a time like this!?"

Jiraiya gave an annoyed yell, running away from the horribly rude people yelling at him, even if it probably wasn't their fault he'd been next to naked only a few feet from them all, they could've at least been a bit more understanding about it all!

"Dammit, I knew I should've just ignored that old man's summons!"

Jiraiya looked behind him, where a massive cliff face gave way to four carved stone faces.

"All the hot springs in this crappy village are separate bath!"

/-/

A small, pure white snake slithered out from under a dislodged brick, sliding it's way onto the palm of it's master, who communicated with it very briefly, obtaining the information he needed, before it entered into the man's sleeve.

"Well, well, it appears my old teammate is going to be in Konoha as well." The man laughed shrilly, walking just behind the three kids who would be masquerading as his students. "What a touching reunion that will be."

Zaku, Kin, and Dosu walked slowly, not quite trying to avoid the man, but certainly not trying to attract his attention either. He'd saved them all, rescuing them from horrid lives, but that didn't mean they had to trust him completely. They were loyal to a fault, but even they could see what he was capable of.

"Seems to be in a good mood today." Zaku spoke absently.

"Mhm." Kin gave a small noise of acknowledgment, but just like their other teammate, Dosu, she stayed mostly silent.

Zaku sighed a bit sadly. He was a cold guy, he knew that. He'd killed people, a lot of people, in his life. But he'd just been doing what he'd had to do to survive. Life wasn't kind for a kid on the streets, especially not one as young as he'd been, in as poor a country as he'd lived.

But even he felt a small, silent desire for something, someone, to interact with.

"You know, we'll probably have a day or two before the Exams start," He noted as he rubbed his chin. "You guys want to do anything when we get there?"

His teammates gave him an odd look, like he was a bit crazy, before their eyes widened slightly, and a clammy albino hand came to rest on Zaku's shoulder. He looked back to find their master standing just behind him, wearing a small smile on his face.

"I'm afraid there won't be much time for anything extra, we'll have to go through leaf's customs first, and that could take upwards of 2 days on its own." He pressed down just a bit harder with his hand, and Zaku felt a small jolt of pain run up his right arm. "Why, had you planned on doing anything?"

"N-No sir." He laughed nervously, trying to ignore the hissing of the snake from earlier as it slithered within his master's robes.

"Hm, well, that's fine too, I suppose." The man gave a smirk at that, before falling back to his previous position, just a few paces behind them.

A chill ran down Zaku's spine as he touched the place Orochimaru's hand had been just a few seconds ago, and he swallowed on nothing as he kept monotonously walking forwards.

His teammates never spoke to him, they never spoke to each other, and he never spoke to them. That was how it had always been, and how, he had a sneaking suspicion, Orochimaru wanted it to stay. If they weren't friends, then there was a much better chance they'd come to _him _with any information they learned about each other.

_But am I satisfied with that?_

It was a simple, treacherous thought. Did he want to go behind his master's back to start making petty little friendships?

_No._

Going behind Orochimaru's back sounded like the beginning of a horror story, one that would be punctuated with his painful death. He didn't have any inclinations that he was somehow stronger than the man, if he even was a human anymore.

Sometimes, when he felt the cold, clamminess of the man's hands, or the dead yellow irises that swam around his slit eyes, he couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, that thing wasn't too human at all.

A few hours of walking later, they stumbled out of the forests and onto a small path. Looking to his right, Zaku found a massive wall obstruct his vision, and knew immediately that this must be Konoha.

"Well, I suppose we've arrived." Their teacher morphed his appearance slightly, taking on a much more colorful face, and donning his Sound Jonin outfit. "You all know the plan from here. Act naturally. Remember, we haven't done anything to warrant suspicion."

As the three of them stepped towards the gate, though, it was hard to miss the final words that came out of that man's cold smile.

"Well, not yet, anyways."

**End Chapter 11**

* * *

**The beginnings of a lot of plot threads for our next arc. I'm trying to make it so that even the most minor of characters in the original story (i.e. TenTen, The sound trio) have more to do.**

**A few of them will have a looooot more to do, so stay tuned for that I suppose.**

**I've got the Chuunin exams very loosely planned out, which is to say I have a few cool ideas and not a lot else, but I know how I want them to end, so I should be able to guide myself towards that with some more planning.**

**Nothing else to say, have a great week!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Initiate further ado.**

* * *

**Chapter 12: Tests of Varying Difficulty**

* * *

"So, wait," Naruto spoke up, scratching his chin as he looked around. "Those guys we met earlier were from the Wind country…"

"Yes," Zabuza sighed, looking down at the boy with a vague sense of annoyance. "They were from Sunagakure."

"But that's what I don't get!" Naruto exclaimed suddenly, pointing up at the man with gusto. "Cause like, wind and sand are two totally different things, why's the country named so differently from the village?!"

"Uhm, Naruto…" Sasuke interjected. "So are fire and leaves, but you've never thought Konohagakure was a weird name, have you?"

Naruto looked completely dumbfounded at this revelation, his mouth opening and closing rapidly as he tried to comprehend so many different things, like the meaning of life, the best flavor of ramen, and why people named things the way they did.

"But like… Sand's way dumber than Leaves!"

"That's a completely subjective statement." Sasuke spoke as he massaged his temples, trying his best to not throttle his best friend for being a complete moron.

"Don't use big words just cause' you can!"

Sakura laughed from behind the trio of guys, doing her best to not become involved in this conversation, which was a philosophy that Sasuke wished he could get behind, because right now he wanted out of this as soon as possible.

"Could you two just shut up for like… five seconds." Zabuza walked in front of them, but not so far that they weren't immediately recognizable as a group.

That seemed to give some people pause, a few of them probably recognized the man, Sasuke guessed, as the Demon of the Mist village, and for him to suddenly be leading a group of leaf Genin was probably quite weird.

"OK, listen," The assassin of the mist turned to look at the three of them, kneeling down in front of them and putting his hands together in front of his face. "I didn't do jack shit to train you guys for this."

"Very true." Sakura spoke, which earned her a glare from the man speaking.

"But," Zabuza continued with a huff. "I have a hell of a lot of faith in you idiots, a whole lot of faith that you've literally done nothing but test for the past hour and a half."

"That's a bit rude." Naruto spoke lackadaisically.

"Shut it!" The man exclaimed. "OK, I'll just be honest."

"I like you kids, honestly, I do. You're a tough bunch, and you work better together than a lot of Jonin squads I've been on before, so I really do think you guys could go far in this thing." Zabuza rubbed the back of his head, and whether it was because of his honesty in saying that he liked them, or just a general nervousness in jinxing them, Sasuke couldn't tell. "But you also shouldn't underestimate anybody here. You have to remember that some of them have the same goals and aspirations that you do."

"Treat every opponent with the respect they deserve, nothing more, nothing less. Hope for the best, expect the worst, and don't forget to work together." Zabuza commanded, pushing Sasuke and Sakura into the main building, and practically throwing Naruto. "Now get the hell out of my sight! And if I have to see you before the third stage of the exam, then each one of you is getting some practical training with yours truly!"

The man slammed the door behind him, and the three of them were left alone in complete silence. It probably shouldn't have been, what with the 40 or so other people in the room with them, but none of them dared to speak either.

"Huh." Naruto exclaimed a second or two later, standing up and dusting himself off. "That guy's kinda mean."

Sasuke just sighed.

/-/

Naruto had absolutely no clue what he was supposed to do, which was a feeling he was becoming intimately familiar with.

He'd be the first to admit that he didn't much care for studying. It was boring, for a start, and a complete waste of his time, which was much better spent pranking some crappy ninjas in the shopping district or polishing up his shuriken throwing skills.

He'd been banking on the Chuunin exams being a test of your skills in combat. After all, what separated a Genin from a Jonin if not the strength of their attacks?

Well, apparently, it was a bit more than Naruto had thought.

_And to think, I completely brushed Sakura off when she offered to study with me…_

Naturally, his fate had been sealed the moment he'd doubted the girl for a second. The universe had once again flipped back into a state of vehemently hating Naruto Uzumaki and declared that the first test of the Chuunin Exams would, of course, be a written one.

He glared at nothing in particular, grumbling under his breath as he stared down at the questions before him. He nearly fainted as he read a question involving trigonometry, a concept he was sure he'd been taught, but one he'd never even begun to understand.

He looked around the room, trying to locate anything that could potentially save him from his predicament, and found nothing.

Nothing, except, of course, one Sakura Haruno, who was quietly and dutifully writing down her answers onto the small leaflet in front of her, looking like she could just as easily answer any of the mind-bending puzzles as she did take out the trash in the morning.

He gave a small wave to her, and her gaze rose to meet his.

'Help me?' He mouthed silently.

The girl gave him a look of smug satisfaction, mouthed back 'sounds like someone should've studied', before she turned back to her paper, pretending as if she'd never seen him at all.

"Traitor!" He whispered just a bit too loudly.

A quiet scribbling sound made him turn around, and Naruto gulped as he saw one of the exam's proctors gazing directly at him, raising an eyebrow in a challenging way, almost as if to say, 'you want to talk again?'

He gave the man as intimidating of a glare as he could muster, which seemed to only amuse the adult ninja, who smiled as he looked away from him and towards a red-haired boy, who was currently covering one of his eyes with his hand.

He'd met the boy only briefly, as him and his team, all of whom hailing from the Wind country, had entered the leaf village. They'd of course completely ignored him, focusing only on Sasuke, making all sorts of bold claims about how they'd 'defeat him' and that he'd 'Be felled by their hands.'

It hadn't even stopped when they'd arrived at the venue either, as they'd immediately been pulled aside by some super buff kid with a bowl cut, who then, naturally, challenged Sasuke to a duel.

_Every single one of you punks can screw off! _Naruto thought with no small amount of annoyance. _He was my rival way before you people even heard of him!_

Still, he had to admit that said bowl-cut-touting kid had been pretty impressive, managing to surpass Sasuke's speed without much effort. Naruto was pretty sure that with his new Sharingan, his friend could've taken the boy, but even then, it wouldn't have been easy.

_But what the hell even __**is **__the Sharingan? _Naruto couldn't help but ponder, scratching his chin as he leaned back in his chair. _Like… is it his irises? Or is it like… his pupils?_

"Um… Excuse me?"

_Is it the whites of his-? No, it can't be that, the whites don't change…_

"Naruto-kun?"

_Is it his brain? I mean… it has to be, right? He's born with the Sharingan, but Sasuke said it develops over time… wait that's even more confusing…_

A light tap on his arm caught his attention, and he turned to see the blushing face of one Hinata Hyuga, who looked more than a little nervous.

"Hinata?" He whispered as quietly as he could, just loud enough for the girl beside him to hear, but, hopefully, not loud enough for the proctors to catch it. "What's up?"

The girl didn't say anything at first, well, that wasn't true, she certainly said _something_, but it was barely intelligible past her mumbling, and so the only word he caught of it was 'help'.

"Er, I don't really know much about this stuff," Naruto admitted painfully. "I can't help you much Hinata."

"N-no!"

He looked back up at her and saw an expression that looked like determination set on her face.

"I said that… that I want to help _you!_" The girl whispered just a bit louder, and he couldn't help but feel both warm and ashamed at what she said.

_So, she thinks I need help, huh? _Naruto thought to himself. _Even if I know she's right, it doesn't make it feel any better._

But he'd gotten pretty good at accepting the facts recently, what with a thousand different things being thrown at him every moment of every day, and so he'd come to accept that he'd never be some mega-genius like Sasuke, or book-smart like Sakura.

If he wanted to compete with them, go on to the next stage of the exams with them, then he'd have to accept those truths.

He was just about to take whatever help it was Hinata was offering when he heard that same scratching come from behind him. Naruto turned around, and locked eyes with the same proctor from before.

The man simply raised his eyebrow.

He gritted his teeth, but turned back to the girl beside him, nonetheless.

"Sorry, Hinata, but I can't do that."

"W- But Naruto, you-"

He tried to be subtle with the slight motion of his head, trying to show her they were being watched, observed at all times.

"I wouldn't want you to get in trouble for my sake." He smiled down at her to show he wasn't mad or anything.

To her credit, the girl beside him clearly caught on, clamming up and turning back towards the table in front of her. She lowered her head a second later, becoming incredibly small.

It made it all the more surprising for Naruto when, even still, she pushed her answer sheet towards him and gave him a minuscule smile.

"I used my Byakugan to take the answers from the person in front of me… I… well, I know the proctors caught it, because I heard them scribble that down…" Hinata looked up at him, seeming oddly confident. "And I… I think cheating is… cheating's the point of this exam."

Naruto couldn't quite see the leap in logic there.

"Wait, what?"

"Well, earlier, you accidentally shouted out to Sakura…"

_Oh crap, was it that loud?_

"And I know the proctors saw it and heard it, because they all, well, at least most of them in the room wrote that down…"

_Oh crap, it __**was**__ that loud._

Hinata suddenly moved towards him, eyes full of an unusual fire, and she took a moment to blush and calm herself down.

"S-so that's why I think… If we weren't supposed to cheat, then, Naruto, you would've already failed!" She brought her hands together in front of her, fiddling with her thumbs in a way Naruto could tell meant she was nervous. "Plus, if we weren't supposed to cheat, then they would've already caught me, so that's how I know for sure!"

Naruto felt like there was an awful lot to dissect there but couldn't help but look above him as a small shadow graced over his section of the table, and saw an eyeball, an honest to goodness eyeball, floating just a few feet above him.

He held back the instinctive scream that he felt would've been appropriate, instead gulping and turning back to Hinata, choosing to ignore what he'd just seen entirely.

"Hinata, you could be right, and cheating could be the point of this exam, but there's also another possibility."

"What's that?"

"What if the proctors could tell that my attempt at cheating was unsuccessful?" Naruto spoke quietly, gauging the reaction on the girl's face.

She seemed to ponder his words for a moment, before she rose up again, shaking her head.

"Even if that's true, then they still would've caught me after I took the answers."

"What makes you think that?" Naruto had to ask, leaning towards the girl a bit. "From what I understand, which to be fair, isn't a ton, your eyes let you… see through things, right?"

The girl twiddled her thumbs once more.

"A-among other things, yes."

"So, what I'm trying to say is that your eyes are pretty hidden on their own, it wouldn't be hard to believe that the proctors just didn't catch something like that." Naruto felt he'd outlined his reasoning pretty solidly, but the girl in front of him didn't seem so sure.

He couldn't help but ask the question that burned in his mind.

"Why are you so convinced that you couldn't do it?"

The girl gave a small squeak, and it seemed to Naruto that he'd hit the nail on the head.

Hinata faltered for quite a long time, looking just about anywhere other than him, as she gazed above her and saw the floating eyeball he'd seen earlier, she gave another squeak, notably louder than the first one.

The Hyuga girl turned back towards him, seeming a bit downtrodden as she tried to formulate a sentence.

"I… I uhm…"

It was a bit weird, but as he watched the girl fumble around with her words, the expression on her face falling by the second, he instantly realized what was wrong.

"Hinata, why don't you have any faith in yourself?"

It was a mistake, saying that. He knew it immediately, from the way the girl's entire body scrunched up, how her figure became smaller, how she nearly disappeared from view entirely.

"Er, I'm sorry," He interjected. "I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine, Naruto." The girl spoke sadly, turning to face him with a pathetic expression upon her face. She looked like an abused puppy.

Something within him, the part of him that Sasuke called 'perceptive at the worst of times', told him that his analogy wasn't so far from the truth.

He shook his head, not waiting for the girl to speak up again.

"No, it wasn't fine…" Sakura had told him before that he could be just a bit too insensitive, a bit too prying, and once again those parts of him had reared their ugly heads. "I wasn't really… respecting your boundaries. You don't have to tell me anything."

That sounded good, and he was pretty sure he remembered what his teammates had told him he wasn't very good at doing.

"I…" Hinata smiled up at him. "Thank you."

She turned back towards her paper, looking like she felt just a bit better than she had the minute before.

It made him feel a tad better as well. Even if he wasn't as strong a ninja as Sasuke was, or if he wasn't as smart as Sakura, he felt like he understood people's problems more than the other two did.

_It's a bit of an odd skill, _Naruto admitted with a light chuckle. _But it's mine, I suppose._

"Very well, 45 minutes have passed, I will now administer the 10th question!"

_Wait, What!? How long was I talking to Hinata!?_

Naruto looked at the clock, which had indeed just passed the 9th notch, and towards the head examiner, who was now reading off the rules for the 10th question.

He gazed down at his own paper.

Not a single word written.

_Why do these things only happen to me?_

/-/

"Heh, this office is the same as ever," A white-haired man spoke as he stepped inside. "Boring as all hell. I swear, Sensei, you really should redecorate the place."

"Yes, I'm sure you'd like that." His old master responded, looking up from his papers and giving him a tired expression. "Did you receive my message?"

"Jeez, straight to business?" Jiraiya couldn't help but spout out as he walked over to the desk, standing a few feet in front of it. "You're growing so cold in your old age, old man."

"And you're growing awfully brazen in yours." Hiruzen replied, giving him a small smile.

"Hah! I haven't aged a day! I'm the spitting image of myself from the war."

"Remind me to call a doctor for you later?"

"Oh?"

"Yes," A small gleam of mirth entered the man's practically deadened eyes. "It appears you need to have both your head _and _eyes checked."

Jiraiya gave a wry laugh at that one, giving into his own amusement for a few seconds, before he gave in to the rather heavy mood.

"So… you're sure of it? Orochimaru's really moving?"

"Yes, our spy's say so, and you know that if Orochimaru wanted to disappear completely, then he could." Hiruzen took a long draw of his pipe, sighing out the smoke a second later. "The fact that our agents found him at all show's that he's up to _something_. He can't be nearly as covert if he's moving his pieces."

"Heh, you always did like your shogi analogies."

"Would it kill you to be serious for half a second, my old student?"

"I'm not sure, I've never tried." He gave him an amused smile, but it dropped off his face a second later at seeing the look on his old master's face. "There's something else worrying you, isn't there?"

"Yes… quite a few things, honestly." Hiruzen leaned back in his chair, seeming to sink into the light fabric as he gave a long sigh. "We have Orochimaru's unseen scheme, The Akatsuki going eerily quiet, and what's worse, there was an incident with the Nine-Tails just a few weeks ago that we were still dealing with, and of course all of these events have to overlap with the Chuunin Exams."

"Whoa whoa, I didn't hear anything about the Nine-Tails," Jiraiya couldn't quite hide his worry, that was his student's son, after all. "What happened?"

"The Fox gave us quite the scare, nearly took over his Jinchuuriki's body a few weeks back. He was subdued by Zabuza Momochi, the demon of the mist." Hiruzen looked up at him seriously. "Have you heard of him?"

"Just in passing, I've never met the guy, if that's what you're asking."

"Hmph, well, you might get the chance, he's been annexed in as a pending member of the Leaf village's ninja corps."

"Wait," Jiraiya felt like he was missing something there. "I'm sorry, what?"

His old sensei gave a completely honest laugh, one of the very few he'd heard from him in quite a number of years.

"Can you see how I've been a tad exhausted lately? It's a bit of a long story, but the short version is that our resident Jinchuuriki's team is... odd."

"Yeah, you still seem to be underselling it."

"Perhaps I am, just a tad."

"But… I think I can see the big picture." Jiraiya sighed as he looked his teacher in the eye, and the man gave him a nod. "You called me back not only as some added defense against Orochimaru, but also so I can watch the Nine-Tailed kid, too, yeah?"

"Hmph," The old man gave a small chuckle. "You understand, then?"

He couldn't help but sigh again as he felt his expected workload for the coming weeks nearly triple in half a second, but nodded anyways.

"Yeah, I got it." Jiraiya let out, waving his hand in a dispelling motion. "How do you want me to go about it?"

"I'd like you to teach the boy more about his powers, and to train him while you're at it." Hiruzen's eyes darkened, looking up at his student with a small fire behind his eyes. "Our Jinchuuriki could use the strength, what with the Akatsuki threatening to attack him at any time."

"Got it." He walked backwards towards the door, content enough with their little rendezvous to leave it there.

"Oh, and Jiraiya?"

"Yeah?"

"Do try to stay on the Men's side of the baths from now on," His teacher gave him a disappointed look, taking a hit from his pipe that struck him as unimpressed. "I've received enough reports about you peeping on women to last a lifetime."

Jiraiya felt his face grow hot, which was a feeling he'd become quite familiar with, and ran out of the room. He screamed one final thing as he ran down the spiral staircase.

"I-I swear, it was just research!"

/-/

_Welp, _Zaku thought, as he rose from his seat and walked to stand with his other teammates. _That was surprisingly easy. _

The exam, if one could even call it that, had consisted of 9 questions that didn't matter, and the choice of whether or not to pass on to the second stage.

_How could they be stupid enough to fall for something like that? _He couldn't help but snicker to himself. _Never once in the exams history have they ever barred future applicants from competing again, of course it was a bluff._

He hadn't wanted to spoil it, of course. Any of the people who'd be fooled by something so simple didn't deserve to be Chuunin at all.

_Or maybe I should have told them, let them all pass through. _He thought as he waved to his teammates, who both gave a noncommittal wave back. _Gods know this place could do with having their chaff culled, and I hear the second test is a whole lot more deadly. _

He and his teammates walked ahead of most of the others leaving the exam sight, heading down towards the forest of death at a more immediate pace. It wasn't to try and earn points with the proctor, or any such nonsense, but a far more deep-rooted problem.

They didn't like being around each other.

It wasn't overt, in that they avoided one another entirely or couldn't bear to speak to each other, it was far more subtle than that. It was like when their eyes met, they'd look the other way without so much as a word. Or if they ran into one another at the compound, they'd pass by one another without exchanging a greeting.

Oh, they'd talk, but only in a fickle manner. They'd ask the other how they'd been doing, the other would reply that they were 'fine', and they'd walk along as if they'd never so much as seen the other. They talked like they were being forced to talk.

If Zaku were being honest with himself, he wasn't particularly satisfied with that.

It was a quiet thought, though, one that drifted within his head like a passing wind. With Orochimaru around, he didn't dare act on it. He wouldn't put it past the man to watch their every move, just to see if he would go along with his idea from the other day to invite his teammates out.

It seemed a bit petty, if he were being honest.

_Just like him, I suppose. _He snickered to himself.

Zaku nearly jumped out of his skin as Orochimaru himself seemed to melt out of the wall in front of them a second later, clad in his Jonin outfit, looking just a bit too pleased with himself.

_Can he like… read minds or something?_

"Good, you've all passed." The man gave the three of them a sly grin. "Not that I expected anything different, but it would have been quite the irritant for you to flunk out so early."

All three of them felt a small chill at the man's words and could tell what he was saying.

They outlived their usefulness the moment they were removed from the competition.

If Zaku guessed, Orochimaru needed a good excuse to be hanging around the Leaf Village, and his role as their Jonin Sensei was as good of one as any. That was probably his Plan A, to enter into the final stages of the competition by riding their accomplishments.

But he knew the man well enough to know that it wouldn't be his only plan. Contingencies upon contingencies, Orochimaru took no chances when it came to his ideas. If the three of them proved to be useless, the man wouldn't bother with them any further than to throw them away.

_And doesn't that thought leave me feeling all warm and fuzzy. _

"Proceed normally through the next exam." Their master told them, giving each of them a bit of an unnerving look. "Although, I'd like to have you hunt down a particularly interesting prospect for me."

"Who, sir?" Dosu spoke up, being the de facto leader of their group, and overall the only one who could even stand speaking in Orochimaru's presence.

"I'll let you know later, if he ends up passing my little test." The man's malicious grin gave them all pause. "Oh, and I have another infiltrator in this exam aside from the three of you, just as a… backup, we'll call it."

Zaku gulped, knowing that their place in this plan had just become even more unimportant.

"You've met each other, though it would be best for your two groups to not intermingle, what with the risks that would entail." The man spoke his words like they were made of honey, though each one of them only made Zaku feel sick. "Rest assured, they have their own tasks. They won't be encroaching on your mission."

"Thank you, sir." Dosu bowed deeply, before gesturing to the three of them. "Shall we go to the test site, sir?"

"Hm, yes, I suppose I've nothing left for the three of you." Orochimaru stepped away, walking over into a tree, and literally melting into it.

Just before he was about to disappear completely, his face turned back towards the three of them.

"Do try to become Chuunin, you all." He smiled in a predatory way, and Zaku's instincts screamed at him to get away. "The opportunities for senior ninja are often far greater than that of those in the lower rungs."

_'Do well in this mission, and you become more important.'_

A second later, Orochimaru was gone.

His heart wouldn't stop pounding, even as the seconds ticked by. Even as Zaku and his team stepped out into the clearing where a handful of students stood waiting for the exam to begin, it never ceased to beat as hard and as fast as it could. It seemed to scream at him to run away, to get as far away from that man as he possibly could.

Perhaps he already knew, on an instinctive level, that staying with Orochimaru could only ever end in his death, but that didn't particularly matter.

He'd been trapped and caught by that man so very long ago, the very moment their eyes met in that abandoned alley he'd scrounged for food in. One passing glance, one fleeting interest, and his fate had been sealed. He'd been deemed useful, and had air tubes carved into his arms to prove it.

And Orochimaru didn't let go of things that interested him, not until they broke…

Or stopped being interesting.

Zaku couldn't help but laugh a bid morbidly as he thought that, causing his teammates to give him odd looks.

The same thing seemed to happen to both.

**End Chapter 12**

* * *

**Another Wednesday, Another Chapter.**

**A pretty big change here, because of Naruto losing himself to the Nine-Tails, Jiraiya is actually called in to watch and teach him, instead of Naruto stumbling upon him in the baths.**

**Zaku, and really the rest of his team, know that they're the pawns on Orochimaru's board, and that that's a really bad thing.**

**Kakashi's in bed, Zabuza and Haku are alive, and Jiraiya's here a few days early. Surely this will have no effect on any future events.**

**Alright, that's all from me, have a good week!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Yo! **

**I'm happy to be here, even though absolutely nothing of note happens in this chapter. You honestly might as well skip it.  
**

**I won't waste too much of your time in this note, because I'm sure you don't particularly care what I have to say here.**

**Without further ado, let's go!**

* * *

**Chapter 13: And So, Fate Changed**

* * *

The last thing Naruto heard Sasuke say before he was blasted half a mile into the Forest of Death was "Look out!".

As he tumbled through branch after branch, feeling like his bones would give out at any second, he couldn't quite shake the feeling that his friend's warning had come just a tiny bit too late.

They'd been… well… not ambushed, per se, because it was hard to be ambushed by a snake the size of a stadium, but attacked by one. It has also just so happened to sneak into their little encampment without very much difficulty at all, separating the three of them from one another.

He finally slid to a stop in a small outcropping, and laid there for just a second as he assessed the damage from his little trip.

_Arms? Working. Legs? Functional. Ribs? Well… still there at least. _

He stood a bit painfully, though he knew that even that damage would be gone within a few minutes. Being the Nine-Tails' vessel came with some perks.

He dusted himself off, which did almost nothing for the pound of grime that now stuck to his clothes like glue, and took a look around.

_Now… where the hell am I?_

He pondered that thought for a good half-second before dismissing it. he didn't know a single thing about the forest of death, and was fairly sure that even if he had been knocked into a place they'd already visited, he would have had no idea anyways.

_So, I'm lost and alone in a place that's __**literally **__called the Forest of Death…_

_Great._

He kicked a tree root out of frustration, gave a small whine at the pain in his foot, and then set off towards the trail he'd left behind upon landing. It was as good an idea as any to try and follow it back to his friends, as he figured he'd have just as good of a chance of survival fighting a giant snake with them then he would being alone with… whatever else was out here.

_Well, at least I won't have to deal with another one of those._

He cursed himself almost immediately, looking around with no small bit of panic.

_If I know the universe well enough, I know that I'm about to be attacked by-_

He screamed quite loudly as he barely dodged the maw of another giant snake, juking through massive tree roots that snaked through the forest like a titanic spider web. He just managed to duck under the creatures gaping maw as it soared over him, impacting against one of the colossal tree trunks, and heard more than saw it's skull break. He cringed just a bit as the snake's corpse slid off the branches around him, and fell to the ground below him with a mighty crash.

_OK, I officially hate this place._

He thought he heard someone's voice, a woman's, echo off to his left, and turned towards the source of the noise.

He found someone that he was fairly sure he should've known, but didn't.

"Uhm… Hey." He called out to the girl, who was standing on a branch about 15 feet from him, looking a bit pensive.

"…Hey."

There was a pause that seemed to last an eternity.

"…So uh… what'cha doin'?"

The girl gave a small sigh, before closing the distance between them in a fraction of a second, landing just in front of him on the thick branch.

"You don't have your teams' scroll, do you?"

He didn't.

"No?"

The girl gave a small sigh, falling back onto the rough bark beneath her with a pout etched firmly onto her face.

"Well, great. This was a waste of time."

Naruto couldn't help but scowl a bit at her muttering.

"It was a waste of time to try and find someone screaming for help?"

The kunoichi in front of him gave him a dry sort of look, like it was somehow his fault he almost got killed by a giant snake.

"I didn't say that, did I?" The girl twirled a kunai on her finger absentmindedly, keeping a constant watch on her surroundings as she did. "I don't have my team's scroll, if that's what you're looking for."

_I hadn't even thought of that…_

"Uh… OK."

Another pause, and Naruto couldn't help his cheeks heating up at that one. He was usually so good at talking to people, too.

_Well… Mostly._

"So… What's your name?" He felt he might as well try and initiate conversation.

If it was possible for the girl to look any more annoyed with him, she managed it, giving him what was possibly the coldest stare he'd ever received.

"Er… I'm Naruto."

"I know your name." The girl responded, sighing, rolling her eyes and, for the first time since she'd come over, truly relaxing.

"You don't have any traps set up, do you?" She spoke disappointedly.

"What?"

The girl slapped herself in the face, dragging her hand down slowly, until just her eyes were visible.

"I've been treating you like a threat this entire time, and you've just been… trying to talk to me?"

_Was that not what I was supposed to be doing?_

"Yeah? Why, should I not have been?"

"You do know that this test is basically a free-for-all, right?" The girl explained as she dug her kunai into the bark below her, carving a design into it with slow, precise movements. "Anyone who's not on your team is an enemy."

"Yeah, I know that."

The girl glared daggers at him.

"That makes me your enemy, doofus."

He thought about that for a second, finding himself sitting down across from her as he did. The girl scooted back a few feet, and he noticed that she had her kunai at the ready, just in case he tried anything.

"I guess we're supposed to be enemies… but you just didn't give me that feeling when I saw you."

"What are you talking about?"

"I mean… earlier, when we encountered this guy from the grass village, I got this feeling in my gut… It was telling me to get as far away from him as I could." Naruto still shivered whenever he thought of that man. Something about him had seemed to unnatural. "But when I saw you… I just felt normal... So I guess I just assumed you didn't mean me any harm."

He felt like his reasoning didn't sound quite so solid when he had to explain it, but he still gave the girl his trademark smile as he looked up at her.

To his immense relief, the girl laughed. It wasn't a lengthy affair, more of a snort than anything, but it was a start, and perhaps a sign that she was warming up to him a little.

"Y'know, Naruto… you're a bit of an idiot."

_Or not, I suppose._

She held her hand out a second later, offering to let him shake it.

"My name's Tenten…" She gave him a sedated smile. "I guess I'm a bit of an idiot, too."

He didn't so much as hesitate, taking her hand in his own and giving it a small shake.

"So… why are you out here alone?"

"I could ask the same of you." The kunoichi responded, going back to carving her design into their branch. "Though, I suppose you gave me your name first, so I might as well answer in kind. My team leader… well, I won't give you any useful information, just in case we end up fighting sometime…"

"Hey!"

"Oh, c'mon," Tenten huffed. "That's just common sense, and you know it."

_Yeah, I know, doesn't mean I didn't want to have something to tell those two when I saw them again._

He could just see how cool he would've been if he'd come back with some juicy information, too…

"Basically, my team leader split us all up, because he was confident in our ability to collect scrolls on our own." She seemed to be thinking of how best to speak her words. "You've met Lee, right?"

"The bushy-browed guy?"

Tenten snorted.

"Yeah, you met Lee. Anyways, he was actually trying to find you guys, I think he's got a thing for the pink-haired girl."

Now it was Naruto's turn to laugh.

"Really?"

"Yep. I hate to be rude, because frankly, Lee doesn't have a single mean bone in his body, but he doesn't have a chance with her."

"What? But he's such a nice guy."

Tenten gave him a deadpan expression.

"Being a nice guy can only get you so far when you look and dress like that."

"Well… his personality is-"

"And you _exclusively _talk about exercising."

"Er… alright you got me." Naruto gave up, raising both his hands in the air in defeat. The girl before him gave a small chuckle at that, before she turned suddenly, eyes wide.

"Do you feel that?"

"No, what's-"

There was a sudden rush of… something… that Naruto couldn't quite describe. It wasn't fear, because he had nothing to attach it to. If anything, he would've called it an extreme sense of foreboding.

And then he heard a girl scream.

His face paled within a second, and he was up almost instantly, rushing towards the sound with all of the energy within his body.

That was Sakura's voice.

/-/

A second or so after Naruto was blasted away, the snake-rider was back on them.

Sasuke couldn't help but stumble a bit as he and Sakura dodged around the massive reptiles' strikes. His thigh ached where he'd stabbed himself earlier, in order to break himself out of his own head, but instead of trying to ignore it, he focused on it.

Every tiny feeling, every jolt that ran up his leg reminded him that he was still alive, that man hadn't killed him yet, he wouldn't kill him.

Another dodge, but this time, the snake just barely scraped Sakura's side, sending her spiraling to the floor some 50 feet below them. For a civilian, that fall would've been fatal, but his teammate was a ninja, and managed to control her descent just enough to land safely, rolling to a stop on the ground.

"Hm, not bad, not bad…" The Grass Genin spoke, rubbing his chin with his right hand, before smiling in a way that seemed so unnatural to Sasuke, like the man had been taught to smile, but never really learned it.

Sasuke already knew what he needed to do.

_Somehow… someway… I need to get rid of that snake._

It was what was doing the real damage, keeping them from focusing on its rider. It cut through any barricade they tried to hide behind, even some of the thicker branches were cut apart like paper behind the creatures bulk.

_There's an idea, though._

Sasuke did his absolute best to feign a stumble, to pretend like the pain in his leg was getting to him too much for him to even stand.

"Hm? Truly?" The shrill voice of the grass ninja called out, sounding almost… disappointed. "I suppose if that's all."

He heard a menacing hiss, and then felt the air around him change, could almost feel the hot breath of the snake close in on him.

He dodged at the last possible moment, just barely ducking under the creatures maw, and heard an earth-shattering crash as it's skull impacted the massive tree trunk behind him. There was a sickening sound of liquid pouring, and then the snake began to fall, it's corpse echoing off the floor of the forest as it met the earth.

For just a second, Sasuke thought he'd gotten the rider as well with that feint.

"Hoho… It appears I have called this too quickly."

_Shit._

He turned around to where the voice had come from but found nothing. Instead, the voice began to echo off of the forest's leaves, in a very hollow way.

"Looking for someone?"

He turned with breakneck speed, but it wasn't enough to block the blow to his stomach that came in, knocking him back with more force than even the Nine-Tails' blows had. He wretched as he landed, trying to force some air back into his lungs.

His eyes widened as he saw a flash of pink hair, as it charged forward with a weapon drawn. There was a quick exchange, before, just like him, Sakura was knocked back, landing a few feet from him in a heap.

"Sakura!"

"I… I'm fine." The girls' voice made it clear that she was anything but, but Sasuke was far too exhausted to protest it at this point.

"We need a plan." He offered.

"Genius idea, never before seen."

"No need to be rude."

The Grass ninja gave a small laugh, before, with a bend in his neck that nearly caused the Uchiha to vomit, he charged at the two of them. Sasuke just barely intercepted, taking the blow on the tip of his kunai.

At any other time, he was fairly sure the man's hand would have split in two from meeting a blade head on, but instead, the man's clenched hand batted away the weapon like it was a child's toy.

"What the hell are you?" He let out between slightly panicked breaths.

"Me?" Their assailant pointed to himself, looking almost hurt. "I'm just a little old Genin from the Grass village, of course."

There was a twinge of glee in the man's voice that sent a chill down Sasuke's spine, it made him feel like he was being toyed with, like he had absolutely no control over the situation at hand.

It reminded him of when he'd fought Haku.

It reminded him of when he'd been spared by his brother, on nothing more than a whim.

He felt a familiar feeling in the back of his skull, and he allowed his Sharingan to spin into life a second or two later.

"Aaaah." Their opponent let out a shrill moan, walking towards Sasuke slowly, like a predator sure of the kill. "There it is, the power of the Uchiha clan."

_Was this what he wanted!?_

It bothered Sasuke more than he cared to admit, but that didn't mean the Sharingan wasn't also his best chance in this battle. He charged forwards, making the signs for the fireball jutsu as he did. As he finished, he drew his kunai from before back into his hand, readying himself as best he could.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

He unleashed his blaze across the branches, searing everything in it's path. He'd poured more chakra into the jutsu than normal, and hoped that it would be enough to simply burn apart the ground the man stood upon, but instead, a second later, he saw the man charge out of his peripheral vision, a wide smile set upon his face.

It was Sakura who answered his attack, forcing the man to halt his advance as a mud wall popped up between them. Sasuke thought briefly about the fact that there was no dirt for the wall to pull from where they were standing, a good 50 feet off the ground, but decided he didn't much care if it saved his life.

A hand came through the barrier of mud, seeming unperturbed by it at all. Sasuke dodged just past it, his eyes allowing him to avoid the blow almost lackadaisically. A second later, the wall itself exploded.

Their assailant came charging forward, yet he had still not drawn a weapon, nor casted a jutsu of any kind.

Sasuke blocked the attack with the back of his hand, even anticipated the man's next one, sneaking his own kunai into the ninja's gut. It was a perfect counter, and he smiled as he went for what he knew would be the finishing blow.

It made it all the more shocking when, instead of plunging in and stopping the man's assault, it merely melted into the man's muddy skin.

"A clone!?"

All the warning he had was a scream from Sakura, and then his world exploded with pain.

"You're strong." Their opponent spoke amusedly, walking over to where Sasuke was crumbled onto the floor and letting out a shrill laugh. "Come on now, don't you have any more tricks for me?"

Sasuke took a second to take stock of what he had left. A few hundred feet of metal wire, a few tiny explosives, 10 or so shuriken, and 4 more kunai.

_Is that enough?_

_Probably not._

He grit his teeth as he touched his chest, knowing for a fact that one of the ribs on his left side was broken. He'd been struck from there after the clone had melted into mud, and he'd tried his best to land safely, but it just hadn't been enough.

That didn't mean he could stay down, though.

He drew forth the miniature explosives, holding them in his left hand as he turned himself around, looking up at their assailant, still wearing that damned smile on his face.

"Is that all you have for me, last remnant of the Uchiha?"

A small static shock ran up his legs, his chest, into his arms, it spread throughout him. he felt the pain from his side dull somewhat, felt his eyes hone in, felt his fists clench. He wasn't quite sure what it was, a mixture between adrenaline and anger, but whatever it happened to be, Sasuke knew that it was the only chance he had.

He moved suddenly, without warning. It was enough, even, for the ninja in front of him to be surprised, raising a single hand to block his incoming fist. That was what he'd been looking for, as he threw the explosives out of his left hand, underneath the man's guard.

The man's body bent backwards as they went off, and he let out a shrill shriek.

_It isn't enough, not yet. _

Sasuke drew the wire, doing his best to separate it into three lengths, and, tying them to 6 of the remaining shuriken in his bag as fast as he could, threw them forward with all his remaining strength.

"Hah! So this is the power you still hold?" The Grass ninja shouted out, and for just a second, a different voice covered the shrill, almost girlish one from before. It sounded unlike anything Sasuke had heard before.

But he ignored it, ignored the distraction, and pulled the wires taught at just the right moment. They tied around the man's frame, holding him fast against the trunk of the tree he stood against.

_Time to end this!_

He held another wire, one that served as a connector between him and the ninja, between his teeth. He held his hand seals up to it, creating an easy line for his jutsu to follow.

_Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!_

The flames roared to life, coasting across the metal wire with ease, and crashed into the Grass ninja's body with a resounding roar.

The man screamed in agony, but Sasuke couldn't let up, he knew that if he let go for even a second, then this man would escape. He'd shown to be too powerful, too dangerous for Sasuke to let him live. He wouldn't risk his teammates lives for something as petty as his own innocence.

The screams died down 30 or so seconds later, as the man's burnt corpse slid to the bottom of the trunk, and became incredibly still.

Sasuke let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding, falling slack onto the branch below him with a sigh of relief.

"Y-you did it, Sasuke!"

His teammate, Sakura, ran over to him, immediately taking his arm and inspecting it for injuries, moving on to his ribs after she'd finished.

"Honestly, that was way too risky!"

"You saw that guy, Sakura." He spoke past his exhaustion. "I didn't have much choice other than to be a little risky."

A laugh echoed out across the forest, cutting through their relieved mood like a knife.

"Excellent! Simply excellent!"

The man was clapping, driving his charred and rotting hands together time and time again. Sasuke realized with some horror that the skin around the man's eye was melting off, and underneath was another, separate skin. It was albino, a shockingly pure white, but it was moreso the eye that got his attention.

It was a deep, horrifying yellow. It looked like the eye of an animal, nothing like that of the human being this creature was pretending to be.

"Who the hell are you!?" Sasuke felt the compulsion to scream.

The man's smile made him shiver, as his face melted even farther, and his voice continued to change, becoming one that sounded almost sickly with age, ringing completely hollow, carrying no emotion at all.

"My name is Orochimaru." The man brought his hands up, forming an odd seal that Sasuke realized he'd seen before.

It was the same seal that Kakashi had used to activate his Mangekyou Sharingan.

"I do feel terrible, to have to interrupt our little jaunt so suddenly," The man's voice called out, as his neck dislocated from his body, falling a bit too far to the side. "But I had originally come to test your abilities. To think you'd impress me so."

The man gave another laugh, before, with a sickening crack, his neck elongated to a ridiculous degree, closing the distance between them in a matter of moments.

"Sasuke!"

It happened too fast for him to so much as move. The man's head opened wide, too wide for a human, and his teeth seemed to extend unnaturally. He felt hands contact with his side, felt it flare up in agony, and looked to see Sakura pushing him. It wasn't very far, a few inches at most, but it was enough.

The man's head didn't catch it, couldn't see that Sasuke had been displaced, and so still aimed for the last place he'd seen the boy occupy.

There was a wet squelch, and a horrified gasp as he fell to the ground.

He almost couldn't bare to look up, to see what had happened, but he knew he must. He forced his eyes to move up his teammates body, to look above him at her form, and to see the man's teeth digging into her neck.

The head pulled away, dragging itself back to its body with another few cracks of bones rearranging themselves.

"You… were not the intended target."

Sakura fell to her knees, clutching her shoulder. A second later Sasuke saw a black mark begin to form, just above where she'd been bitten.

And then she screamed.

It wasn't quite like anything he'd heard from her before. It was elongated, drawn out, and continuous. Her eyes widened, and she fell backwards, scratching at her neck where the seal was with a horrid vigor, cutting her own skin as she desperately tried to remove whatever it was this man had placed on her.

Sasuke practically flew towards her, kneeling down and grabbing her hand, keeping her from clawing open her own skin.

"What the hell did you do to her!?"

Orochimaru seemed oddly confused, like he'd never thought this could happen to him.

"That gift was intended for you, I suppose… the both of you will have to recieve one."

He brought his hands back up, reforming the same seal he'd used earlier, but Sasuke knew now what was coming. His Sharingan spun back into being, and he prepared to intercept it.

Except for the fact that he couldn't move. He felt the same piercing fear from earlier cloud his thoughts, his muscles. His body faltered, and he felt a panic as he watched the man's head come barreling towards him.

"This time I think I'll be more careful." The man was emitting an aura so potent, so obviously powerful, that Sasuke could barely feel anything at all. "Do be a dear and hold still for me."

At least until a ninja dressed in orange, with hair the color of gold, came rocketing into the arena, kicking the man's head into a tree as he landed next to his teammates.

"Sorry I'm late!"

Sasuke couldn't quite hide his relief as he looked upon his teammate. He hadn't thought that Naruto would die, or anything silly like that, but he'd been worried for him all the same.

Sakura let out another scream, and suddenly any semblance of happiness at Team 7's reuinion vanished.

"What's wrong with her!?"

"I don't know! That guy over there, he did something to her!"

The man in question brought his head back, straightening it with his left hand and looking rather annoyed.

"Hm, so… the Nine-Tailed brat emerges as well." Orochimaru took a single step forward, before he was bombarded with weapons from above him, giving a single "tsk" as he bobbed and weaved through all of them.

Another combatant, a girl Sasuke recognized vaguely as a member of Rock Lee's team, landed next to them in a crouch, glaring daggers at Naruto.

"Who the hell is this guy? You said they were fighting another one of those snakes!"

"Well they _were _fighting a snake, I just... forgot mention that someone was riding it!" His friend turned to him. "Sasuke, who the hell is this guy?"

There was an awful lot to process there, and Sasuke felt prepared for almost none of it. Another scream poured out of Sakura, who was rapidly tensing and untensing her muscles. It was like she was stuck in a nightmare while still awake.

"He called himself Orochimaru, he-"

"Wait, what!?"

It was the other girl who spoke, looking stunned beyond belief.

"Why? who's that?" Naruto asked, looking just a bit confused.

The girls' hands shook as she looked over at the man, who seemed to be sizing them all up momentarily.

"Orochimaru is – was – on the same team as Jiraiya and Tsunade."

There was a momentary pause, during which the girl looked back at the two of them annoyedly.

"Do you seriously not know who they are?"

"Er… No." Naruto admitted, rubbing the back of his head.

"I remember those other two..." Sasuke spoke quietly, trying to control the shaking in his hands. "They were supposedly some of the most powerful ninja to ever come out of the Leaf Village. Because of their achievements in the Second Shinobi World War, they were dubbed…"

"The Sannin." The brown-haired girl interrupted, holding a bo-staff in her left hand. "They're… they're frighteningly strong."

"I... I didn't know Orochimaru was..." Sasuke looked over at the man, who seemed to be finished sizing them up, and was now walking towards them, quite confidently, as if he'd already caught them.

"T-then what the hell do we do?" Naruto seemed to catch on to their panic, now shaking a bit as well.

"We do the only thing we can do." The girl said, taking a step backwards as she turned to look at Naruto, and then at Sasuke, carrying Sakura in his arms.

"We run."

**End Chapter 13**

* * *

**Heh.**

**So Sakura is going to become an avenger by joining Orochimaru, in order to obtain enough power to kill her older brother, and restore her clan.**

**Not really. ****But without Sasuke recieving the curse mark, how much of the future of Naruto is really set in stone?**

**Almost none of it, I'd reckon.**

**See you all next week!**

* * *

**Edit: Made a small change, because I remembered about 30 seconds after posting this that Sasuke had no idea who Orochimaru was. So I've changed that one line near the end. **


	14. Chapter 14

**Excitement, Suspense, Thrills!**

**How will our heroes get out of this one? ****Stay tuned for next chapter, where...**

**Wait, it is next chapter... ****Oh shit.**

**Side note: Figuring out different ways that I can say "Further ado" is getting harder and harder, I fear I may have to give it up one day.**

**But it is not this day.**

**Commence further ado. **

* * *

**Chapter 14: Rage and Peace**

* * *

As Jiraiya stood over the faceless bodies of 3 Grass Genin, he couldn't quite help but feel an ominous sense of foreboding.

Not because of the bodies, he'd seen hundreds, perhaps thousands of those in his day. No, it was because the way they'd been killed was awfully familiar.

After his former teammate had ran away from the Leaf Village, Jiraiya himself had hunted the man for a year or two, trying his best to find his old friend. He'd ventured across the entire continent, through all five of the major nations, and found only hints of the man's presence.

These corpses had been his calling card.

One's missing their faces.

"And you're sure this is him?" An Anbu he didn't know spoke beside him, tilting his head a bit curiously.

"About as sure as I can be." Jiraiya looked back towards the other ninja present, a woman who, to his immense joy, thought that fishnets counted as an actual outfit. "You said it yourself, right? That that mark of yours is acting up."

The girl, Anko, as she had told him, nodded, trying to mask the expression on her face with her left hand. It didn't help all that much, her eyes still gave her away.

She was afraid, and honestly, Jiraiya couldn't blame her.

Orochimaru had that affect on people.

But there was something else in her expression as well, a quiet anger played upon her features, and it sent a small chill down his spine. Going into a fight with those kinds of emotions weighing you down put you at an immense disadvantage.

She couldn't be allowed to go alone, not if they wanted her to come back alive.

"I'll accompany you into the forest, then." Jiraiya spoke, walking towards the edge of the tree line and gazing in. He could make out nothing, though, that was, of course, the point of the place. "You won't complain, will you?"

Anko seemed to ponder that. She clearly wasn't too thrilled about his idea, he imagined she wanted her first meeting with her old master in nearly a decade to be more personal, but clearly the rational part of her mind recognized it as the smarter suggestion, and so she nodded up at him a few seconds later, a grim determination set upon her face.

"Yeah, I'm…" The woman sighed, before giving him what was possibly the weakest smile he'd ever seen. "As ready as I'll ever be."

/-/

Running wasn't going well.

The four of them were galloping through the trees of the forest of death, raining weapons and Jutsu behind them as they went, and yet no matter what they did, they could never quite manage to lose their assailant.

The man was fierce in his attacks as well, and only through a combination of panicked dodging and sheer luck had they managed to avoid being skewered or killed by any of his mass array of Jutsu, one of which was a particularly nasty attack where he launched several snakes out of his sleeve.

Sasuke couldn't quite focus on the man's attacks, though, on account of the girl he was hauling along on his back, who had gone frighteningly still in the past few minutes.

Sakura had taken a hit meant for him, pushing him out of the way of it, and completely foregoing her own safety.

_That damned idiot! _Sasuke practically snarled, drawing a kunai out of his pouch with his left hand, and throwing it directly at their pursuer, who batted it away with the side of his hand, barely noticing it at all.

_Why the hell would she do something like that!? _

_'Because she's your friend.' _A tiny voice in the back of his mind told him what he already knew.

He knew that, of course. He knew why she'd done it. It didn't take a genius to understand. But that didn't mean he didn't want to yell at her, at himself, at the damned bastard who did it to her!

"Alright, so running's not working!" Sasuke looked back towards the other girl with them, who was just now unleashing a few more weapons back at Orochimaru. "Got any more brilliant ideas, whoever you are?"

"Listen, kid!" The girl called back to him; an annoyed expression set upon her features. "I get you're worried about your friend, but there's no need to be an ass!"

Sasuke bit back the retort that came to the tip of his tongue.

"As it stands, running is working a hell of a lot more than fighting would."

"I was able to fight him earlier!" Sasuke couldn't help but exclaim, rage once more bubbling up to the surface.

"And do you honestly think he was taking you seriously!?" The girl rounded on him, practically screaming.

It hurt to admit to himself that no, the man hadn't been taking him at all seriously. Orochimaru had been toying with him. At any time back there, he could've been killed with barely a thought. Deep down, he'd already known that. There'd been something weird about their fight, how the man hadn't so much as drawn a weapon or gone so far as to cast a single Jutsu.

"Alright, fine, I'll admit we can't fight him, but running like this isn't working!"

"I've got an idea!" Naruto shouted beside them, drawing a small object from his pouch, and thrusting it into Sasuke's left hand. "First of all, it's gonna' need some set-up time, and you've got better aim than me."

Sasuke looked down at the item the boy had handed him and saw that it was their one and only flash bomb, an item Zabuza had given them as a sort of 'last resort'.

_'Alright, listen kids,' _The assassin had told them. _'Sometimes, shit just doesn't work out the way you think it will, happens to the best of us. If you can't kill the problem, and you can't run from the problem, then you'd best use this to get the hell out of dodge.'_

He'd have to thank the man later.

Sasuke lit the fuse on the bomb and threw it just ahead of them. The three of them jumped past the explosive just before it went off, letting off a blast of pure white light.

They heard the man behind them let out a sudden cry, and it appeared that even the eyes of a Legendary Sannin were still weak to being blinded, because the sounds of his pursuit faded.

"Let's go!" Naruto called, a small, hopeful smile blooming on his face. "We need to make some distance while we can!"

"Right!" The two of them sounded off.

/-/

Nearly half an hour of running later, Naruto was finally feeling confident enough to let them all stop and rest for a moment.

He was fairly sure they hadn't lost the man, not with how legendary Tenten had said he was, but this was about as good as it was going to get.

"Alright," He began as they formed a tight triangle, sitting back to back so as to always be watching for their pursuer. "My idea is basically to make a crap load of shadow clones, transform them all into us, and send running in different directions."

Tenten looked at him like he was crazy.

"Wait, you can do the Shadow clone?"

Naruto felt like he'd never get tired of seeing the awed expression on people's faces when they said that, but now wasn't the time.

"Yeah, and I can do a pretty mean transform as well, so I think that's our way out."

"That's all well and good, Naruto." His friend spoke up, only taking his eyes off of Sakura's still form for a moment. "But how do you know he won't be able to see through it?"

Naruto gave a small, panicked laugh.

"I honestly don't think it'll work, but it will buy us some space." Naruto looked around the forest, examining everything as he did a full sweep. "At this point, our goal should be to get out of the forest and get help for Sakura as soon as we can."

"When it comes to this exam, I agree with you." Sasuke admitted, his hands balling into fists, his knuckles practically going white. "We don't have a clue what's wrong with Sakura, and if her condition gets any worse, I don't know what we'd be able to do in a place like this."

"The problem, however," Tenten interjected, once more carving a design into the ground around her, in what Naruto realized was a nervous tick. "Is that this place was designed to be confusing as all hell, even Jonin can have problems navigating it. How do you know if you're going towards the edge of the forest, or deeper in?"

To that, Naruto had no answer.

"It doesn't really matter, actually."

The both of them turned to look towards Sasuke.

"Really, we already know that there have to be teachers and examiners in the middle of forst, right?" The Uchiha waited for them to both nod. "At best, we end up at the edge of the forest, and we can make a get-away as soon as possible. At worst, we end up in where we're supposed to be without a second scroll, and explain that we'd like to withdraw from the exam."

"No," Tenten shook her head, expression grim. "Worst, is you accidentally take the longest possible route into the forest, come across a powerful trophy-hunting team, and get yourselves killed by them instead."

"So what the hell would you have us do!?" Sasuke spoke with venom in his words, his eyes hard. "Just sit around and wait for Orochimaru to kill us?"

"I didn't say anything like that, did I?" The girl argued, digging her kunai deep into the earth below her. "I'm just saying that trying to escape from here and trying to head towards the center of the forest might as well be the same thing at the end of the day. You're going in blind either way."

This time, it was Naruto who interrupted, with a confident, snarky laugh.

"Actually, we won't be going in blind."

He stood up, and, raising his hand into his telltale sign, spoke "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

He felt like he'd been punched in the gut as a hundred or more Naruto's popped up around him, and fell to his knees in exhaustion.

"Naruto!?" His friend reached over to help him up, but he held him off, getting a hold of himself a second later.

"I'm fine." He gave the boy his trademarked smile, before looking over towards Tenten and giving her a thumbs-up.

"So, Mr. Shadow Clone," The weapons-user spoke up, as the clones began to change into multiple sets of the four of them. "You said that we aren't going to be blind, why don't you explain for the class?"

Sasuke's eyes widened a second later, and a small smile bloomed onto his face.

"You get their memories, too!"

Naruto's smile mirrored the other boy's.

"Yep! I'll send them off in all directions, and not only will they act as decoy's for us, but they'll also be scouting out the surrounding area! If they find the central tower, or the exit to the forest, they'll disperse and let me know!"

"Well, color me impressed." Tenten gave him a pat on the back, standing up to match the rest of them, and pocketing her kunai. "I honestly didn't think you had something like that in you."

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, feeling just a tad bit embarrassed, but couldn't help the small chuckle that bubbled up inside him.

_It's nice to be appreciated._

"Well, if I'm being honest?" Naruto spoke, smiling sheepishly. "I just thought of the memories thing a minute ago."

Sasuke gave a small smile at that, shaking his head.

"You're allowed to not tell us these things, Y'know?"

"Yeah, but where's the fun in that?"

"You're insufferable."

"That's my best trait!"

"Alright, you two," Tenten spoke up, putting a hand on both of their shoulders. "Naruto, you ready to execute this plan?"

He gave a nervous smile, but felt his confidence rise the longer he looked at the friends in front of him.

Sasuke, his best friend, who'd always watch his back. Tenten, a girl he'd only just met today, but one he got along with quite well, and Sakura, attacked and injured, who needed their help.

"Yeah," He gave the signal, and his clones charged off into the forest, all going different ways, taking different paths. Hopefully, one of them would find the route that led to their salvation.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

The four of them looked towards the only path that was left unclaimed and charged forwards.

It took barely 30 seconds for Naruto to get some information back from his clones.

"O-Orochimaru's close!" He exclaimed, doing his best not to raise his voice, for fear that it would alert the man.

"How close?" Tenten inquired.

"Judging by how long it took?" Sasuke spoke up, looking rather grim. "A minute out, at best."

The three of them shared a quick look, trying their best to stay upbeat as they continued to jump from branch to branch.

A minute or so later, Another flash of information hit Naruto's brain, though this one was a bit better for his mood.

"He's further away," Naruto couldn't help but release the breath he'd been holding, breathing deeply for a second or two before continuing. "He's probably 2 or 3 minutes out now, we should keep going this way, and only stop if we need to."

"Agreed." The both of them said.

A groan cut through their new cheer like a knife, and they landed on the ground a moment later, all crowding around Sakura.

"Is she alright?" Naruto couldn't help but ask.

"I have no idea." Sasuke admitted, reaching over to her neck to check her pulse. "As far as I can tell, she's… alive."

"Yeah we can see that."

"Listen, I'm no medic, Naruto." His friend sighed out, before taking the girl on his shoulders once more, placing his hands underneath her thighs. "C'mon, we need to keep moving. If she wakes up, great, but we can't afford to stay still with that guy still on our tail."

"Naruto, did any more of your clones bite it?" Tenten asked.

"No, they haven't, not since the last group."

The girl shivered.

"That gives me a bad feeling…"

"Doesn't everything?" Sasuke spoke, a bit of rudeness making it's way into his voice.

While those two argued for a moment, Naruto took a second to examine their surroundings. They were in a small clearing, surrounded on all sides by trees, but, then again, that could've described half of this damn forest.

A small hissing noise pulled him out of his thoughts a second later, and he looked down to see a small, pure white snake looking up at him from the forest floor.

Naruto's eyes widened, and he felt his breathing cease. He reached down towards the snake, picked it up without any resistance, and held it towards his teammates.

"Guys!" He shouted towards them, breaking them out of their argument. "We have to go, now!"

The other two seemed to wonder what he was saying, but only for a second before they too seemed to realize.

The reason why his clones had stopped being killed, the reason why Orochimaru had suddenly gone quiet.

He'd found them.

Tenten took the snake and threw it across the clearing, before grabbing her scroll and slinging it onto her back. Sasuke once more held Sakura, and the three of them dashed back into the trees.

Naruto created a single shadow clone as they jumped forwards, sending it directly behind him.

20 seconds later, it sent back the information he'd been dreading.

"He's right behind us!" Naruto shouted, knowing that it didn't matter if he raised his voice now, the man would have no problem finding them even if he stayed quiet.

"Holy shit…" Tenten muttered under her breath, drawing a kunai out of her pack, with a small paper tag on the end of it, and throwing it into a tree behind her. "If you guys have any more of those flash bombs from earlier, now would be the time!"

An explosion rocked the forest as the girl's paper bomb went off, though he had a sneaking suspicion that wouldn't be enough to kill their pursuer.

"We were only given the one!" Sasuke admitted, grinding his teeth together.

Tenten gave a small, annoyed "tsk", before she reached into her bag and started tying a tag to another kunai.

Naruto sent out another shadow clone, just to gauge their distance to Orochimaru. He waited 5 seconds, quietly praying that the man wasn't that close.

10 seconds…

15…

20…

…

30…?

_Are we… losing him?_

/-/

Things had not been going to plan, and that angered Orochimaru more than he'd thought it would.

First it was that pink-haired girl, and then then it was those damned kids managing to pull a fast one on him.

As he carved his way through the forest, jumping straight through tree's as thick as boulders with nary a care in the world, he couldn't help but quietly seethe.

As an explosion rocked the directly in front of him, likely a foolish attempt to delay him, he decided to simply ignore it, charging directly inside of it, taking the brunt of the force onto his arms, and coming out the other side completely unscathed.

But charging straight through meant he nearly missed the 10 or so snakes that now charged out at him.

He dodged under them, using his body's better than average flexibility to slink back to his full stature, and stopped just behind his opponent. When he saw who it was, he couldn't quite help the amused smile that blossomed onto his face.

"It's been some time, Anko."

"It has indeed," The girl, no, woman, brought the snakes back into her sleeve, her eyes cold, filled with anger. "My former Master."

He smirked maliciously. Looking at the girl's expression, he knew the battle was already decided. She would barely count as a distraction; he could deal with her at his leisure.

Still, better to take advantage of her while he could.

"How have things been in the Leaf, nowadays?" He asked with a malicious expression, purposefully playing on the girl's already frayed expression. "I've heard Lord Third is growing quiet old, have they finally decided to accept me as the next Hokage?"

A bubbly laugh echoed from above him, and Orochimaru's eyes widened as he just barely dodged a raging fireball, as it burned and coursed across the branch he'd just been stood upon.

"Like we'd ever take someone who's as much of an ass as you."

A man who was practically a giant landed just next to his old student, though he recognized him without even needing to look. How could he not? He'd heard that damned voice practically every day of his life.

"Fancy meeting you here," He couldn't manage a fake smile, not with the anger that coursed through him.

"Jiraiya."

His former teammate shot him a cocky smile, that seemed to infuriate him all the more.

"What've you been up to, Oro? Still ruining people's lives?"

He didn't respond, didn't feel like bothering. The man in front of him was, perhaps, the only person on the whole planet who could still fight him 1 to 1.

Well, that wasn't true, the Akatsuki had a few people he knew not to cross, but those weren't really people, not anymore.

They were more forces of nature.

The 6 faces of the man named Pain, the cold and silent Itachi, and the masked jester by the name of Tobi, who claimed to be of no note whatsoever. Orochimaru saw past that façade, however. The man practically leaked power, and seemed just a bit too good at being in the right place at the right time.

But right now, they were of no consequence, the man standing before him, who had drawn the scroll that he had adorned across his back, and run his bloodied thumb across it, was the only person that mattered.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

A massive billowing smoke seemed to engulf the whole forest, though Orochimaru already knew who the man had brought out.

But it would have gone against his entire plan, everything he'd worked all these years for, to accept this duel, and so, while the smoke was still surrounding them all, preventing anyone from seeing anything, Orochimaru let himself sink into the wood below him.

He melted into it, traveling along it as a snake, into the cracks and depths of the massive thing, and into the earth a while later.

He disappeared, content to accept that he would be unable to mark the Uchiha for now.

But he was not content to give the boy up, either.

He'd have that boy in his clutches

He'd have the Sharingan for himself.

/-/

"I can't believe I'm about to say this…" Naruto spoke up about 30 minutes later, completely exhausted, but feeling oddly confident. "But… I think we lost him."

They had stopped for a quick breather, but even now, Naruto's 5 or so shadow clones he'd sent to investigate kept reporting that there was nothing around them.

For some reason, it seemed Orochimaru wasn't following them anymore.

Sasuke deflated on the spot, exhausted from having to fight their pursuer, combined with running with Sakura on his back for over an hour. He set the girl down inside of a small hole in a nearby tree, and, bracing himself up against the inside of the trunk, fell asleep almost instantly.

Tenten gave him a sedated smile as she stood to walk towards the mouth of the entrance.

"I'll stand guard, since someone has to." The girl spoke, though she couldn't hold in the yawn she let out a second later.

"Nah."

"Wha-?"

"I'll stand guard." He smiled up at her, walking out to the mouth of the small cavern to meet her, putting his hand on her shoulder. "You're tired, but I'm… well… I've got something that keeps me going longer than most people."

"Naruto, I don't care if you're hooked up to a damned battery," Tenten looked at him annoyedly, her eyes narrowed. "No one can cast a hundred clones, run for an hour, all the while being stressed out of their mind, and just be 'totally fine' afterwards."

He couldn't quite meet her eyes at that one.

"I'll stand guard, Naruto." Upon seeing his expression, she smiled at him. "The nice thing about my techniques, if that they don't take very much chakra on my part. I just have to open up seals. I'm still pretty ready to go."

He couldn't quite hide his own exhaustion, now that he'd stood still for a moment. His adrenaline was finally leaving him, and he felt like he would collapse if he stood for a second longer.

"I-If something happens-"

"Then I'll wake you all up. I promise."

Naruto gave a contented hum at that, falling back against the bark behind him.

It wasn't comfortable, far from it, it was actively uncomfortable. But it was better than nothing at all, he supposed, as he laid back against it, and shut his eyes.

He was asleep in barely a moment.

/-/

"Naruto! Sasuke! We've got company!"

Sasuke was awake instantly, drawing his pack onto his belt and stepping out of the cavern entrance, adrenaline already coursing through his veins as he stepped beside Tenten, who was looking into the forest with a Bo-staff drawn behind her. A second later, Naruto stood beside them, looking a bit tired, but no less prepared.

In front of them stood 3 Genin from the sound village, who he very vaguely recognized.

"So, you're Sasuke Uchiha, huh?"

The one who'd spoken was a boy with spiky black hair, and odd fixtures coming out of his hands. He seemed to be about their age, perhaps a year or two older, and he was smiling in a way that said he had all the confidence in the world.

It seemed oddly fake.

"I am." He felt there was no point in trying to be coy, and with his Sharingan as strong as it was, he wasn't quite sure anyone could hit him.

His teammates, however, weren't protected by his eyes, and so he knew what he'd have to do. He'd take the fire for all of them, in order to protect them. That was the only way.

"Great, that didn't take too long." The black-haired boy held his hands out, and Sasuke felt odd as the very air in front of them began to distort. "Nothing personal, man, but we've got a job to do."

A second later, a blast of slicing wind came straight at him, nearly destroying him where he stood. He was only saved by Naruto, who'd just managed to push them both out of the way as the wind sliced apart the tree behind them. He looked up and saw that Tenten had avoided the blast as well, though quite narrowly, it seemed, as she had a few new cuts on her left side.

"Heh, seems your fancy eyes ain't gonna do you much good against the wind, are they?"

Sasuke gave an annoyed "tsk" but didn't say anything more. It was never a good idea to talk during a fight, despite what Naruto said about it. Oftentimes, when someone was trying to engage you in conversation, they were meaning to distract you, so you'd miss something else.

Sasuke looked around for something, anything he might've been missing.

The girl who'd been standing with them was gone.

"I got her!" A voice called out from behind them, sounding awfully proud of itself.

Sasuke turned to the side, so that he could see both the group of sound ninjas, and the other one, who was walking out of their small cave, dragging Sakura by her hair.

He felt his annoyance with the circumstances explode, a seething rage burning within him, and he took a step towards the girl holding his teammate.

"Let her go."

The girl gave a cocky smile, holding a kunai to Sakura's neck as Naruto inched forward.

"Ah ah ah, no sudden movements." She smirked, eyes glowing with mirth. "Wouldn't want little missy here to get hurt, would you?"

He could feel it once more. The feeling he hated more than anything else in the world.

_I'm powerless._

His fists clenched until his knuckles were white, and he felt his eyes give off a dull ache.

"Let. Her. Go."

It was his final warning. He knew he wouldn't stop, if that girl looked at him like that again, like she was above him…

Like he was some little kid…

He couldn't be held responsible.

"Forgetting about someone?"

He tried to turn in time to block the attack, but it was too late. A metal gauntlet struck his back with incredible force, and he felt the air leave his lungs as he fell forward.

"Sasuke!" Naruto called out, swinging a kunai at the ninja before them, but he simple raised his gauntlet, and poured some sort of force out of it.

His friend fell backwards, his ears bleeding. He gritted his teeth and got back up, bringing out a shuriken into his left hand.

_Just like I taught him._

"I won't let you hurt my friends!" Naruto called out, throwing the shuriken as he charged inwards.

The teen with the bandages covering his face said nothing, merely batting the weapons out of the air, and answering the assault in kind, swinging his gauntlet again.

It was stopped by a staff, that swung up and into the ninja's face, knocking him backwards.

"Sorry about that," Tenten spoke up, looking apologetic as she stood. "Long-range types are my worst match-up, so I've been having some trouble getting in."

"No problem." Naruto called back, trying to size up the situation.

_Enough sitting around._

Sasuke rose slowly, taking deep, concentrated breaths to try and return his breathing back to normal. His back still ached, and he felt a bit of pressure on his ribs as he rose.

He'd nearly forgotten in all the hustle, but he'd broken one on his left side.

"You all seem to be getting rather uppity." The girl from earlier spoke, digging her Kunai into Sakura's neck, and drawing a drop of blood. "Would you mind setting your weapons aside?"

Sasuke said nothing, hell, none of them did.

They were all too busy staring at the purple mist surrounding Sakura, emanating from her like a miasma. It swirled in a double helix, billowing out from a circle that had formed around her.

"W-what the hell!?" The sound girl spoke, backing away from Sakura for a moment as her hostage fell to the floor.

A second later, a design like a tattoo began to burn to life on his teammates skin. It reminded Sasuke of a raging flame, seeming to consume the girl's flesh as it coursed across it.

And then, as if nothing at all had happened, Sakura stood.

"D-don't fuck with me!" The sound girl shouted, running at her with a kunai drawn, and 3 or so senbon in her other hand, small bells tied to the ends of them.

"Sakura, watch-!"

Sakura drew a kunai from her pouch, ducked underneath the girl's attack, and stabbed upwards.

It was as if all sound in their tiny arena ceased. A moment later, the girl from the sound let out a small gasp and coughed up blood.

"W-what the hell…?" The girl looked down, towards where Sakura's kunai was embedded in her chest.

"Hey, Sasuke?" His teammate asked, looking over at him with deadened eyes. "Why are these guys attacking us?"

He couldn't speak. He tried to, and then tried again, but he couldn't force words past his lips. They seemed to stick in his throat like glue, making it harder and harder to breath.

A second later, the girl drew the kunai out, and, in one fell motion, plunged it into the sound ninja's shoulder.

"KIN!" The boy with black hair called out, rushing over to help his teammate, but he stopped as Sakura held up her hand.

"No. Stay there." She spoke, holding her kunai to the other girl's throat, looking horribly calm. "I asked Sasuke a question, but he didn't seem to know the answer to it."

His teammate looked down, at the girl below her who's eyes were wide with terror.

"Why are you attacking us?" She asked calmly.

The girl on the floor said nothing, merely shaking her head as she tried to get his teammate off of her. She pushed on Sakura, flailing wildly with her hands as the pool of blood on her chest grew wider and wider.

"We were ordered to," The same ninja from before, the one with spiky hair, spoke up. "We didn't-"

"Did I ask you?" Sakura spoke, looking the other ninja in the eye.

The boy paled, saying nothing as he reached a hand towards his teammate.

There was something wrong with the look in her eyes, Sasuke thought, as he watched his teammate turn back on the girl below her. She looked too calm, like she had no emotions to speak of.

The abject terror of the girl below her seemed to make no difference.

"W-we were o-ordered to…" The girl, Kin, spoke a second later, her voice barely squeaking out. "Orochimaru told us t-to… Kill Sasuke Uchiha."

"There, do you see?" Sakura said, smiling slightly. "Was that so hard?"

"Oi… Sakura?" Naruto spoke, inching closer to their teammate, his hand outstretched. "W-why don't you get off of her? I mean, I know they tried to hurt us, but-"

"Get off of her? What?" The flaming marks seemed to crawl even further along her skin, down her left arm as she grabbed the sound ninja's hair, raising her head. "These people… these people keep attacking us, keep attacking Sasuke. Why? What did we – what did he – ever do to them!?

She slammed Kin's head back into the dirt, and raised her Kunai above her.

"I'll stop them, I swear! I'm done standing behind you guys while you solve all the problems!" Sakura plunged the Kunai down. "I'll protect you!"

"NO!"

A blast of air knocked Sakura backwards, and the boy from earlier swooped down, grabbing his teammate in his arms.

"Kin! C'mon, I'll carry you, so you have to stay with me!" The boy called out desperately, taking one of the girl's arms and slinging it around his shoulder.

"We're not done!" Sakura called out, throwing her kunai at the two sound ninja.

It was blocked by the gauntlet of the third, who stood between their teammate and his own.

"We're falling back." He called out, taking something from his back pocket and throwing it at their group. As it landed in front of Sasuke, he realized with some shock that it was an Earth scroll. "Consider this our fee for bothering you."

"You think that I'll let you leave!?"

Sakura charged forward, her teeth bared as she practically snarled, but was stopped by Naruto, who stood in front of her with his arms held at his sides.

"Sakura, you've gotta stop, they're just-"

"Out of my way!"

_She wouldn't harm Naruto… _Even now, he knew it. But a part of him told him that the boy alone couldn't stop her, not how she was now.

He shot forwards, wrapping his arms around her.

"Please, Sakura, just… just stop." He whispered, his feelings a complete mess as he held the girl back.

"Why!?" The girl screamed, eyes wide with fury. "Why won't you let me end them!? They'll only come back!"

There was a part of him, a pragmatic part, that agreed with her. These people would just keep coming back until either of them died. But there was another part of him that shouted, that screamed out, that this wasn't how it should be.

He took Sakura's hand, the one brandishing the kunai, still pointed at her foes, and drew it into his own hands, gently cradling it.

"You know, Sakura…" He spoke quietly, noticing that Tenten had jumped up onto a nearby tree branch, likely watching the three others as they ran away, making sure they didn't try anything. "The two of us never once thought you were weak."

The girl froze, but still didn't take her eyes off the forest in front of her.

"You don't have to prove anything to us, ok?" He gave a watery smile, trying his best to keep composed. "So please… please don't dirty your hands for the two of us."

The girl began to shake, her hand dropping the kunai, which fell to the floor, embedding itself in the dirt.

"But I… I want to protect you guys, too…" The black flames began to subside, raging ever still as they were pulled back into the mark on her neck.

"Then, how about we make a deal?" Sasuke offered, as the tears he'd been holding back finally flowed down his cheeks. "We'll all protect each other, equally."

Naruto smiled, turning towards where Tenten stood and walking over to her.

_I'll have to thank him later…_

The girl looked up at him with eyes that shone like emerald's.

"A-are you sure… I'm not… not that strong."

"I'd trust you with my life, Sakura." He brought her into a hug, wrapping his arms around her back. "You're the strongest person I know."

Something within the girl seemed to break at that, for she let out a small, pitiful sob. She tried to hold it back in, tried desperately, but couldn't, and as the tears flowed freely down her face, she collapsed into his arms, crying loudly and messily into his shoulder.

"It's ok." He spoke quietly, mirroring what his own mother had once said to him whenever he cried. "It'll all be ok."

She sobbed even louder, openly, as she hugged him tightly.

Maybe it wasn't the best thing for his broken ribs, as they seemed to crack and ache in his chest. And maybe it would've been a bit embarrassing to think about later, with Naruto and Tenten standing just a few feet from them. Maybe it was a bit too personal for people who were supposed to be just friends.

But there was something within him that didn't much care about any of those things, and as the girl continued to cry, to let out all the pain she'd felt, Sasuke kept holding her.

_I want to hold onto her like this… _

As the minutes gradually ticked by, Sakura got quieter and quieter, until eventually he felt the girl in his arms fall asleep. Gently, he rose, doing his best to try and carry her with him. He stumbled half-way, but Naruto caught him, helping him carry the girl back into the empty tree trunk they'd been in before.

He set her down inside, and felt his own exhaustion take over. They'd only been able to sleep for 45 minutes after being chased by Orochimaru before the trio from the sound had attacked.

He felt his eyes grow terribly heavy.

Perhaps it was a moment of weakness, but he reached down and took Sakura's hand in his own. A part of him simply wanted to be near her, a part he couldn't quite explain.

A minute or two later, he was asleep, still clutching her hand, determined even then to never let her go.

**End Chapter 14**

* * *

**My new favorite chapter, I do believe.**

**I think I just like writing Sakura.**

**Next up is... well, I won't spoil it. But I will say that our boy's from the Sound Village may be getting some spotlight next chapter, so stay tuned for that.**

**That's all for me! See you all next week.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Alright.**

**So here's another chapter, this time focusing in on the "bad guys", and the bad guys.**

**Lacking further ado, let's get into it.**

* * *

**Chapter 15: Hazy Memories**

* * *

Kabuto Yakushi idly turned his team's heaven and earth scrolls in his hands, trying to think up some way to pass the time.

He was sat in a small, mossy indentation carved into a massive tree, one that created just large enough of a canopy of wood above him to prevent the pouring rain just beyond him from drenching his outfit. His teammates hadn't been so lucky, and they sat a few feet away from him, grumbling quietly as the downpour soaked their clothes.

He had been told by Orochimaru to wait until the last day to make his way to the testing site, just in case he needed to intervene with anything in the forest, and even if he agreed with the plan, it didn't mean he was particularly happy with the details of it.

They'd of course collected their scrolls as early as they could, snatching them from a couple of Leaf Genin who were insignificant, and then done their best to make their way to the central tower.

But now they had nothing to do, other than to wait and hope someone called them for something.

_Where're a couple trophy-hunters when you need them?_

He could've done for the combat right about now, it would've at least given him something to do.

A small hissing drew his attention, and he looked to the ground beside him, staring directly into the eyes of a pure white snake.

_Oh?_

He hadn't been expecting a message from his master, but the plan certainly accounted for it, and if he were being honest, it was at least something to do. And so he stood, walking just behind the creature as it slithered into the dark tree line beyond him.

"Where're you going, sir?"

_Oh, right._

He'd actually forgotten about his subordinates with the sudden summons.

"Orochimaru's sent a message. I'll be taking it nearby, you two wait here."

"Yes sir." They both nodded, going back to polishing their kunai, or checking their inventory, or whatever the hell else they thought they should do. Kabuto didn't particularly care about either of them. The plan accounted for both their survival and their deaths, they were _very _far from important.

He walked perhaps 100 feet, far enough that whatever it was his master had to say, he wouldn't be overheard. When he felt the man's cold, oppressive presence, he turned to face it, undeterred.

"Master Orochimaru," Kabuto bowed slightly, before looking back up at the man with a small, almost malicious smile. "What do you need of me?"

He didn't bother with idle pleasantries; he'd known Orochimaru more than long enough to know that the man didn't care for them in the slightest. He cared only for business.

Kabuto could respect that, in a way.

"The plan has changed." His master spoke, looking less than pleased by that fact. "I was unable to place a curse mark on Sasuke Uchiha, and what's worse, Jiraiya's here."

Now that was an unpleasant thought. Kabuto was strong, he knew that much. He was more powerful than many adult Jonin, let alone most other 19-year-old's, but even he had no illusions as to where he'd stand against a Sannin.

He'd come at Orochimaru with the intent to kill him, once.

He'd been younger then, sure, and less experienced, but even still, the man had played with him, toyed with him, could've ended him on nothing more than a whim.

Even now, Kabuto was fairly sure he still could've.

And a man who could fight on Orochimaru's level, and, according to his sources, largely go even with him?

He'd be avoiding that confrontation, that was for sure.

"Is he shadowing that team?" Kabuto asked, thinking that that would be the only reason Orochimaru didn't try to place a curse mark on the young Uchiha a second time.

"I would imagine." The man admitted, stroking his chin with two fingers. "It wouldn't be hard to figure out that I wanted something from that team, and even easier for a man of his caliber to completely hide his presence from children of that level. They'd likely never realize he was there."

"Unless he wanted them to." He brought up the obvious.

"Yes, I had thought about that. It is interesting that Jiraiya was called to the Leaf, far earlier than I was expecting…" His master looked contemplative, but not overly worried.

They had contingencies that accounted for hundred's of events, each of them with offshoots of their own. They'd been planning for this attack for a few years now, it wasn't hard to consider that they might just get unlucky.

A sudden thought came to him, and his eyes widened as he considered it.

"Do you think he's watching the team because of us?" Kabuto asked, a glint appearing in his eye as he looked towards his master. "Or perhaps, he's watching them because of the Nine-Tails."

Orochimaru seemed to ponder that for a moment, before looking back up at him with a malignant smile.

"A sound hypothesis, I'd thought that might be a possibility myself." The man's smile became almost cruel a second later, as he seemed to throw around a hundred thousand scenarios in his head. "I have an idea, actually."

"Oh?"

"The sound trio... I was originally going to use them to revive the Hokage… but I've come up with a… different plan for them."

Kabuto couldn't help but feel a bit confused; he didn't see those three as being worth much of anything, aside from the sacrificial pieces they'd been planned as.

"What would that be, sir?"

"The plan is in it's infancy at the moment," Orochimaru spoke, letting a snake fall out of his sleeve and slither away from them, into the heart of the forest. "I'll tell you more when I can be sure it will work, but I've been seeing some odd behaviors from one of them, lately."

"And you think they're the key to getting the drop on Konoha?"

"The drop on them?" Orochimaru laughed, a sound that came out more as a rasping hiss. "No, no, the opposite, actually."

Kabuto's feelings must have shown on his face, because the eyes of the man in front of him practically danced with mirth.

"It's quite simple, actually." Orochimaru's face turned sinister as the same snake he'd sent out came slithering back into their small clearing, winding up the man's leg and into his robe. "I'm going to let them know we're coming."

"What!?" Kabuto couldn't help but raise his voice, though he cleared his throat, and corrected himself a second later. "My apologies, sir. I just don't understand how that helps us."

"Oh, normally it wouldn't, I'll admit that. But what if information were to be leaked from our forces, and the Hokage, by some twist of fate, were to receive such information…"

"Then… I imagine he would cancel the Chuunin exams, sir."

His master gave a cold laugh, looking back at him like one would a child.

"No, he wouldn't. You see, the Hokage is currently banking on one thought." Orochimaru looked back towards the forest as the snake from earlier hissed into his ear. "Konohagakure can handle whatever it is I'm going to throw at it."

"I… Forgive me, sir, I still don't see how these things are related."

"Not a problem, Kabuto, I'm not asking you to think, merely to listen." Orochimaru turned back towards him. "The old man has a fatal flaw, and it is that which will lead to his undoing."

Kabuto couldn't quite help but swallow on nothing, looking up at his master with a genuine nervousness. It was born not of fear, but excitement. Orochimaru had never given information like this to him.

"What would that be, sir?"

His master bared his teeth, his lips drawing up into a horrid imitation of a smile.

"He is far too trusting."

/-/

_What am I doing?_

Zaku tried to ignore the pained whines that seemed to stream through the wad of cloth he'd stuck in his teammates mouth as he desperately stitched the girls wounds together. He was no doctor, far from it, really, so his work was slow and tortuous, pulling needle and string through flesh with as much precision as his shaking hands could muster.

Dosu, who stood a way's away, feigned standing guard, but was really trying his best to tune out the girl's screams. He couldn't blame the boy, he would've rather been anywhere but where he was right now.

But one of them had to do this if Kin was going to survive.

Even still, he couldn't quite bare to look at the girl's face now, not with how desperate and panicked she looked. It struck him like a knife every time a muffled scream tore through his makeshift gag, the one he'd put there to prevent her biting off her own tongue, or breaking her teeth.

That Sakura girl had done a number on her. The first stab had caught on the girl's ribs, which, while preventing the strike from piercing her organs, still broke 2 or 3 of them on her right side. The second strike pierced directly into muscle, and while she wouldn't be moving the arm for a while, it certainly wasn't going to kill her.

The problem was that they were cut off from the rest of society in here, and even if they tried to make a break for it out of the forest, the girl would bleed to death.

And then Orochimaru would kill him and Dosu for messing with his plans.

And so, the only real option was to use the cursory knowledge of first aid that he'd picked up on the streets. You didn't get to see a doctor when you got hurt back where he was from. If you got a wound, it got infected. If you didn't know how to treat it, then the best you could do was pray you survived.

Even still, the last time he'd had to patch his own wounds was 6 years ago, and even then, he'd been mediocre at best.

But it seemed like, just this once, it would be enough.

"I've stemmed the worst of the bleeding," Zaku spoke, panting as he cut the string on the end of the needle with a kunai, tying it to another piece, and sealing the wound. "She should recover, provided she doesn't have to agitate it anymore."

Kin's breaths were gradually shortening below him, her chest rising less and less with each passing moment as the pain from his emergency procedure gradually began to fade. He reached over and drew the cloth out of her mouth, seeing that she looked far too tired to do it herself.

"How sure are you on that?" Dosu spoke, looking back towards him with a doubtful expression.

He shot his teammate a shaky expression.

"Honestly? Not very."

A hand on his arm had him looking back towards Kin. The girl was barely conscious, extremely pale, and looking terrified.

"Hey… Zaku…" Her voice came out in what might as well have been a whisper, and the hand gripping his arm seemed like it might fall at any moment. "I'm not… gonna' die, am I?"

He felt something in his chest at that, like ice suddenly coursing through his veins.

_Why the hell do I care?_

"N-no, you're gonna' be fine." Zaku spoke quietly, taking her hand in his as he sat beside her. "Just… get some rest for now, we'll move when you wake up."

"O-Ok… good." Kin gave a weak smile, like she was trying to assure herself more than anything. "I didn't… I wasn't ready to die… not yet. I can't die in a… in a shitty place like this…"

The girl's head lulled to the side as she finally gave in, and Zaku waited until he could hear the sounds of rhythmic breathing before he got up, turning towards the other member of their team.

"We've gotta' watch her." He spoke, looking around, trying to find a spot where he could defend them easily. "If one of those trophy-hunting team's comes around, we have to be ready to pick em' off, before-"

"Why do you care, all of a sudden?"

The boy might as well have slapped him for how fast his voice cut off, and as he turned toward his masked teammate, he couldn't quite manage to form a thought.

He tried to find anything to say, but all he ended up with was a stunned "What?"

"It feels like recently, you've been… I suppose weird is the best way to put it." Dosu walked towards him slowly. It wasn't particularly threatening by nature, but it still had all of the muscles in his body tensing. "We might work together, but we aren't supposed to be close, Zaku."

"Think I don't know that?" Zaku growled, trying to put up a front of strength as best he could.

"Then why'd you save her?"

_Words, _Zaku thought to himself, as he stumbled backwards. _They're only words._

And yet it felt as if he'd been pushed backwards yet again, forced to confront his own actions in so blunt a way that it left him reeling.

"Right now, our lives hang in the balance of this mission," His teammate spoke, a cold logic coursing through his voice. "As she is now, Kin is only going to weigh us down, make finishing the mission that much harder."

Dosu stared directly into his eyes, and it felt like the boy stared into his soul as well.

"We should kill her and move on, just the two of us."

He felt a stabbing pain in the back of his head, a memory he'd long thought gone seemed to be dredged up to the surface, and just for a moment, he was 9 years old again.

_ 'Hey… Zaku…?'_

_ 'Shut up! Just shut up! I'll get us out of this!'_

_'Zaku…' _

_'You have to go, Zaku.'_

_'Shut up, Damnit!' _

_'Zaku, please…'_

_'Go.'_

He fell backwards, landing hard on his back. He tried to breath in but found that he couldn't manage it, couldn't so much as move a muscle.

"Zaku?"

_I asked Orochimaru to delete it… why am I remembering it now!?_

"Zaku!"

He turned to look up at his teammate and found he could finally breathe again. As he was gasping for air, he tried to remember what it was his teammate had said…

To leave Kin behind…

The memory he'd lived through a moment ago was already fading. He remembered only that he did not want to remember it. The first thing he'd done after being taken in by Orochimaru was have it be erased.

He could feel the abstract guilt, without any purpose, even now, but he didn't know what to do with it, who to blame.

But somehow, through all of it, he still knew one thing.

"I won't leave Kin behind." He breathed hard and heavy, taking deep breaths as he tried to regain his focus. "If you want, you can go on ahead, but I'll be waiting here."

Dosu seemed to consider him for a moment, his eyes flicking from Kin's sleeping form to his own, resting just a few feet from her.

"You got a crush on her or something?"

It was such a sudden comment that it nearly made him spurt out a denial immediately, but he knew that would only make things worse. He didn't have a crush on the girl, or at least, he didn't think he did. His feelings were a bit more… complicated than that.

"No, I don't. I just…"

He couldn't find a way to describe it, the feeling in his chest. It was a quiet, tiny resolve. It said that he wouldn't leave someone behind, never again.

He didn't know who he'd left behind the first time, but he knew the memories he'd given up must've been the key.

"I guess… I don't really understand how I feel." He looked up a bit helplessly towards the boy standing above him, feeling just a bit nervous as to how he would act.

"Hmph, that's-"

The boy cut off suddenly, his face going white.

"Yo, Dosu?"

"It's good to see the three of you." A shrill, raspy voice echoed from behind him, and Zaku turned almost instantly, holding a kunai out towards it. Upon seeing who it was, he didn't lower the weapon.

"I-It's good to see you as well, Orochimaru sir." Dosu bowed deeply.

"My my, Zaku," Their master walked over to him, and, with a small motion, knocked the kunai from his hand. "It's not good to point weapons at your betters."

He hadn't even realized he'd been holding it anymore, but he felt a strange sense of anger overtake him as the man walked over to Kin's still form, crouching down and putting his hand on her forehead.

"What are you doing?" He spoke just a bit more aggressively than was probably safe, and he knew on instinct that those words may have outright killed him.

"Calm yourself, child, I'm merely inspecting her." He reached his hand down to the wound on her chest, and, after a second, pushed down on it, eliciting a small whine out of Kin.

"It's not terribly deep, but she did break 3 ribs." He still had that same uncaring smirk on his face as he said that, and it irritated Zaku in a way he couldn't explain. "As for this one…" He poked and prodded at girl's shoulder, drawing out another groan from the girl. "Hm… several torn muscles… but you've done a decent job patching these as well."

Orochimaru turned back towards him, a lazy smile set upon his face.

"You never told me you were a decent field medic."

There was something about how the man was speaking, some lilt in his voice, that told Zaku something was terribly wrong. He also knew, however, that he couldn't do anything about it, and so chose to answer normally.

"It… never came up, sir." He couldn't quite meet the man's eyes as he approached.

"I suppose it wouldn't, what with Kabuto handling any medical issues that came up." The man's smile sent a shiver down his spine, too friendly, too open. It wasn't like him at all.

"I'll be giving you all a new mission, since the circumstances surrounding the first have changed quite drastically."

Orochimaru drew two scrolls from his back pocket, one heaven, and another earth.

"I assume you surrendered your own scroll to Sasuke's team like I told you to?"

"Of course, sir." Dosu nodded.

"Then you'll be taking these, they'll get you into the second stage of the exam. Make sure you arrive on the last day, just to ensure I haven't need of you to do something before then. I need two of you to enter in to the next round after that, but other than that, what you do is up to you."

"Will do." His teammate spoke, and he nodded towards the man stood before them. Orochimaru smiled coyly, looking down towards where Kin was laid, breathing as soundly as she could.

"And what do you mean to do with this one?"

Before Dosu could speak, Zaku interjected.

"We're planning on carrying her into the second exam, sir, even if she's unable to compete, she'll be looked at by the medical staff there."

It was a longshot, really. Zaku knew that the man was far more likely to simply run the girl through now and be done with her than to allow them to risk the mission for her sake, but Zaku felt he owed the girl enough to try and keep her alive.

Orochimaru ran two fingers along his chin, seemingly deep in thought. A second or two later, he smiled, looking back up towards Zaku with a curious expression.

"And why would you go to such an effort? I don't suppose you've developed feelings for the girl?"

He looked down at the bark below him, unable to meet the snake's gaze.

"I… I don't exactly-"

A shrill laugh cut it's way through his words, and he looked back up to see Orochimaru laughing cruelly, mouth open towards the tree line above them.

"You've no need to explain yourself to me, at least, not now." The man walked over to him, giving him a small pat on the shoulder. "I was merely teasing you."

Those words sounded foreign on the man's lips, and Zaku couldn't help but shake slightly as the man's footsteps echoed subtly on the bark below them, stepping around him and towards a lower branch.

"Oh, Zaku?" He turned back around at the last moment. "One more thing."

"What is it, sir?"

There was a flash, a snap, and a rush of pain like a geyser shooting straight up his wrist. He screamed loudly, falling to his knees a second later. He looked down at his right arm, finding his hand bent at an odd angle, his wrist obviously broken.

"You should know better than to point a weapon at your superior, Zaku." Orochimaru's smile looked more threatening than anything he'd ever seen in his life. It was a cold reminder that he could do nothing against the man's raw power. "Someone could get hurt."

A second later, the man was gone, having literally melted into the wood below them.

He cradled his right arm, trying desperately to quell the intense pain that kept shooting through it every few seconds.

"Get up."

He looked towards the voice to find Dosu standing in front of him, eyes hard as he stared down at him.

"I-I will in a second man, I just-"

"Get up!"

The boy kicked him to the ground, where he fell in a heap. He laid there for a moment, trying to figure out what he'd done to deserve this, where he'd gone wrong. He'd thought they were onto something for a second there, thought that, just maybe, the three of them could become more than acquaintances.

"You just had to open your mouth, didn't you?" Dosu spoke vindictively, fury playing across his face. "You could've killed us all!"

"I… I didn't think-"

"That's right!" His teammate roared, slamming his gauntlet into the tree beside him, sending wooden splinters flying all around them. "You didn't think! You're lucky he just broke your wrist! When Orochimaru shows up, **I **deal with him! That's how we've always done it, so what the hell were you thinking when-"

He felt a flash of anger, and now he was the one rounding on the other boy, the pain in his arm serving only to amplify his anger.

"You wanted me to just sit there and let him dispose of Kin!?"

"If it was going to keep me alive, then yes! I would have!"

"You're standing right fucking there, aren't you!?" Zaku felt righteous anger course through him. He knew he'd done the right thing! His teammate didn't get to act all high and mighty when it was him in the wrong. "We made it, Kin's alive, you're alive, I'm alive!"

"And now we have one teammate out of commission, and one teammate with a broken wrist!"

Realization finally dawned on him. Orochimaru had said it himself.

"He needs two of us to pass this exam, or else we have no value!" Dosu pointed to himself with his thumb. "I can make it just fine, and if you were in good condition, then I'm sure you could've as well!"

Zaku stared blankly down at his broken right wrist, trying to move his fingers, and felt only pain.

"He already killed us, you damned idiot!" Dosu pounded his gauntlet into the bark below him, over and over, digging into the wood. A few seconds later, he seemed too tired to continue, falling in to a slouch. "He just delayed the execution."

Zaku opened his mouth, tried to force air past his throat. Tried to breath, tried to speak. Nothing happened.

He felt like, all this time with Orochimaru, he'd been locked in a pitch-black cage. He'd known only that he was trapped. But he had not been able to see if something was coming to attack him, knew that if something tried, then it would succeed with little effort.

What resistance could a blind man offer?

"W-what the hell do we do?" He spoke after what seemed like an eternity.

"We do what we can do." Dosu gestured towards Kin. "We'll take her to the exam sight, wait it out till the last day, and then head inside. if we're lucky, we get matched against some small fry in the fights, and we make it into the next round without any problems."

"Kin might not be able to wait until the last day." Zaku felt he had to say.

"I know, you idiot!" Dosu practically seethed, massaging his temples. "The problem is, we can't enter early, or else we just get killed by Orochimaru for breaking his orders."

He helped get Kin onto his teammates back. The boy put his hands underneath her thighs, and he drew her arms around his neck. It wouldn't hold her, but it would help her from swinging off as they dashed through the trees.

As he let her go, he tried to ignore the pain in his wrist, which wasn't exactly easy, especially since it had begun to swell.

"So… what you're saying is that we're relying on Kin's wounds not getting infected in a sweaty, shitty ass jungle. Then we're relying on nobody attacking us during that time, so that we can conserve energy in case Orochimaru needs us. Then we're counting on getting easy fights during the second round, all so that we can then invade and attack Konoha, in a mission that will most likely get us killed?"

Dosu's face looked grim as he turned to face him.

"Basically, yeah."

Zaku let out a quiet laugh, doing his best to not panic. It wouldn't do to give up this early, though he had the sneaking suspicion that this was all already over.

"Alrighty then, partner." Zaku returned his teammates grim expression, though did his very best to answer with a smile, at the very least.

"Shall we get going?"

/-/

Sakura awoke with a start, nearly hitting her head on a small wooden knoll to her left.

She took in her surroundings, seeing that she was in some kind of cavern that seemed to be carved into the base of a tree, though whether or not it was man-made, she couldn't tell.

_I guess… I must've passed out._

She remembered everything she'd done while under the influence of… whatever it was, but it felt… Odd. It was like a hazy veil had settled on top of her memories. She could experience them, but as if she was doing it through someone else's body.

As she tried to move, she felt an oddly warm presence on her right, and turned to see that Sasuke had fallen asleep just beside her, his hand still in hers.

A few years ago, she was fairly sure she would've simply passed out once again in a state of euphoric bliss, but she had matured, grown since then.

Now her nose just bled for a while. It was no big deal.

With some regret, she untangled herself from Sasuke, standing up and stretching, and walked to the mouth of the cave. She had seen Naruto as well, curled up in a ball in the far right of the place, but she had a vague memory of one other person fighting alongside them, and if she were right…

"Hey, you're awake."

_There you are._

The girl before her, Tenten, if her memories could be believed, had taken to changing her outfit since yesterday's struggle. She wore the same pink tank-top as before, although it was obviously a second outfit, for it bore no wrinkles to speak of, but she had taken to cutting her baggy pants at the knee, creating makeshift shorts, which Sakura imagined would be much easier to fight in should the occasion arise.

It would probably also serve to be far more comfortable in the wet heat of the forest.

"Hey, I… don't believe we've been introduced." Sakura laughed, feeling a bit silly as she reached her hand out towards the other girl. "Sakura Haruno."

"Tenten." The other girl brought her hand up as well, and they shook a second later.

"What's your last name?"

Tenten merely smiled.

"Just Tenten."

"But, surely you must-"

"Just. Tenten."

"Oooook then. Just Tenten."

"Sorry about that, I…" The girl turned a kunai in her hand idly, then, placing it around her finger, began to spin it. "My dad left me and my mom a long time ago, so even if I have his last name, I don't really…"

Sakura couldn't pretend to understand that, given that her parents were still together, but she felt she could at least get the sentiment behind it. She smiled up at the girl a second later, trying to show she meant no offense.

"My bad, I didn't mean to be rude or anything."

"Oh, don't kid yourself." Tenten smiled at her, eyes glinting with a touch of mirth. "Asking someone their last name is an entirely normal question. I'm not going to be offended by it."

Sakura rose her hands in mock surrender.

"I'm just trying to avoid hurting anyone's feelings."

A second or so later, she let her hands fall to her back, and drew out a small flask that she had in her tool bag, taking a decently-sized swig. The cool water did wonders for her sore throat, and she realized with a start that she likely hadn't had anything to drink for more than a day.

"Fair, fair." The girl beside her rocked back and forth, her legs swinging to a beat all her own. "So… you seem less… murdery than yesterday."

Sakura couldn't help but cough as she took some water down the wrong pipe, punching her own chest to try and settle herself.

"R-really didn't think you'd say that."

"Eh, I've always been a fan of just coming out and saying what I think." Tenten smiled over at her. "It has it's ups and downs."

"I can see that, yeah."

There was a momentary pause as Sakura tried to figure out how to explain what happened. She knew it probably had something to do with the mark that now adorned her neck, but other than that, she hadn't a clue.

After explaining that to the girl sat beside her, she tried her best to sit still as Tenten inspected the mark with her fingers, lightly prodding her neck every few seconds.

"Huh, that's… weird."

"What's weird?" Sakura asked, turning towards the girl.

"Ah ah, I'm trying to look at it." Tenten pushed her back to how she'd been sitting before. "Just… sit still for a moment."

Sakura's displeasure must've been obvious, because the girl beside her let out a small snicker as she lightly rubbed the mark.

"And you don't feel any pain when I do this?"

"None, it feels the same as when you rub my arm."

"Hm… So whatever it is, it's not touch activated." Tenten seemed to ponder something, and then, a second later, had a revelation. "I'm just now realizing that I probably shouldn't mess with the crazy murder seal while standing next to you."

Sakura couldn't help chuckle at that, trying to smother it into her hand.

"Well thanks for the show of faith."

"Hey, you're super nice at all," The girl held her hands up in mock surrender, smiling playfully. "But I don't think I want to meet the you I met yesterday again."

Sakura felt a twinge of remorse course through her as she remembered the terrified face of that sound ninja. Even now, she could still hear the girl's whimpering sobs, still feel her struggling get weaker and weaker in her arms…

Could still remember the girl's eyes widen, trying desperately to stop her as she herself brought a kunai down to end her life.

If she ever met them again… she wasn't sure what she'd do or say, but she did know that she'd have to thank that one ninja, the guy who'd blasted her away. He'd spared her the immense grief that would've come had she killed that girl.

She'd have to thank Naruto and Sasuke too, they'd held her back at the end.

And then Sasuke had hugged her, and they'd held hands, and slept together, and eeeeeeeeeeee-

_Get a hold of yourself Sakura, _Her inner self chided, _We can't be swayed by the adorable face of sleeping Sasuke!_

She briefly thought back to a few minutes ago, when she'd awoken next to the boy, and remembered how his hair had been all messed up, flying out at odd angles, how his lips had been pursed so cutely, and how his hand had still been in hers, even while they'd slept, and his-

"Hey uhm… Sakura?"

"Huh!?" Her train of thought broken, She flailed around wildly, looking over at Tenten. "W-what is it?"

"I didn't say anything." The girl winced, instead pointing over shoulder with her thumb, gesturing just behind her, where the two boys of their group, Sasuke and Naruto, stood.

"Hey Sakura!" Naruto called out, waving to her with far more energy than she felt it was fair for him to have.

"Morning, Naruto." She nodded towards him, and then shifted her gaze towards the other boy standing there. "Sasuke."

"Uhm… H-Hey, Sakura." The boy couldn't quite meet her eyes, his own face a bit dusty pink from embarrassment.

"What's wrong, Sasuke?" She kind of hoped it was that the sight of her sent shivers down his spine, but decided against verbalizing that.

"N-Nothing, I'm going to… uhm… help Naruto watch the… watch the camp." Sasuke gestured wildly, trying desperately to find a reason to leave. A second later, he followed an extremely amused Naruto over to the trees just beyond them, where the two of them talked loudly.

_What was that all about?_ Sakura couldn't help but wonder, as she looked over to her companion, and saw that the girl's cheeks were blazing as well.

"Is… something wrong?"

"N-nothing, it's just…" Tenten drew in a breath, and then, seeming determined, looked her directly in the eye. "Do you remember when you were thinking about Sasuke a bit ago, and you were saying all those things about how cute he was, and how his lips were like… nice and stuff."

"Well yeah, I remember, but how did you-"

The entirety of the universe could have ended at that very moment, and it still would've been the second worst thing to happen to her that day.

"I said all of that out loud, didn't I?"

The girl in front of her cringed violently, looking like she wanted to be anywhere else but there.

"Y-yeah."

"Sasuke was right behind us when I said it, wasn't he."

The girl beside her put a hand on her shoulder, trying to offer some comfort.

"Hey, Tenten?"

"Yeah?"

Sakura reached into her pouch and drew a kunai from out of it.

"Just do me a favor and kill me right here."

**End Chapter 15**

* * *

**Rip Sakura, she lived a good life.**

**Zaku's a fun character for me, because the show gave him 0 story at all, which means I get to make my own if I want him to be a major character.**

**There's some problems I'm running into with my writing that I've been trying to solve in the past few chapters, namely being more descriptive of areas. Let me know how you think that's going.**

**Or don't. ****I don't know.**

**Anyways, see you all next week.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Shit I've run out of ways to say without further ado...**

**Eh...**

**How do I say it in French?**

**Well one google translate later says it's "****Sans plus tarder", but if I've learned one thing from trying to cheat in Spanish II, it's that google translate is never correct...  
**

**but it's all I've got so-  
**

** Sans plus tarder.**

* * *

**Chapter 16: Twin Promises  
**

* * *

"And you're… absolutely sure you don't want both?"

Tenten sighed dramatically, trying her best not to run her hand down her face as she stared blankly into Naruto's sheepish face.

"I am _absolutely _sure that I don't need both of your scrolls, honestly, I don't even need the one!"

"Well, neither do we." Sasuke held up his team's own earth scroll. "We've already got one of our own, no need to have two, is there? Besides, you said your team had a heaven scroll to start, right?"

"Yeah, I suppose I did." She conceded the point, waving her hand lazily into the air. She had to admit that she quite liked Team 7, but they were all annoying in their own way. "Fine, fine, I'll take your extra scroll, happy?"

"Yep!" Naruto exclaimed with a radiant smile. She noticed Sakura giggle quietly, trying to hide it behind her hand.

"There's no winning an argument with him, unfortunately." The girl's smile became slightly forced. "Believe me, I've tried."

Tenten gave a small chuckle at that, before looking back behind her at the massive expanse of forest, and remembering that her team had only 2 days left in their exam.

She shuddered slightly thinking about the talking to she'd be getting from the resident Hyuga of their team. It certainly didn't help that she'd not shown up to their rendezvous point, and she had a feeling that Neji wasn't going to be taking "Orochimaru showed up" as an excuse.

_Which feels kind of unfair, _She thought glumly, _given that he did show up._

"Well, Alright guys, I'm off." She gave them a mock salute, which they returned, laughing amongst themselves as best they could. "I hope to see you in the next round."

Despite everything, she couldn't help but smile at the team in front of her. They might've technically been enemies, but she silently prayed that their teams wouldn't face each other in the coming rounds.

"We'll be there!" Naruto held his hand out to her, giving her a confident thumbs-up "You'd better watch yourself, Tenten! Team 7's coming for the championship!"

"It's not really a – oh forget it." Sakura sighed, massaging her temples with one hand, and waving goodbye to her with the other.

She returned the gesture, and, no more than a second later, jumped into the woods beyond, rushing into the forest's depths.

/-/

It was a while later before Naruto and the rest of his team were up and moving, and they were being just a bit too slow.

"Oi, you two!"

When Sakura and Sasuke turned to look at him, both of their faces a dusty pink with embarrassment, Naruto couldn't help but growl under his breath.

"This was funny at first, but you two dancing around each other for the last day and a half is starting to get annoying as hell!" Naruto pointed back at them, his finger shaking with rage. "Just talk to each other or something!"

His teammates gaped at him like fish, opening and closing their mouths as they tried to find any retort to his words. Neither of them could, it seemed, as they turned towards one another, not quite meeting each other's gazes.

"W-would you mind if we… stopped for a while?" Sakura spoke up quietly, her eyes darting around the forest floor in a vain attempt to avoid her current predicament.

Naruto's eyes narrowed, but he couldn't help but sigh a second later.

"You have 15 minutes."

/-/

"…"

"…"

"So… uh…"

The girl in front of him coughed awkwardly, and Sasuke himself couldn't help the abject mortification that played upon his face.

Honestly, he thought he had it pretty bad, but the Uchiha couldn't quite imagine what it must've been like for the girl before him, having revealed her thoughts without meaning to.

"I'm sorry, I've never been very… good at talking." Sasuke rubbed the back of his neck with his left hand, suddenly feeling rather hot. "Uhm… do you… even want to talk about this?"

Sakura looked up at him with a flat expression.

"Do I look like I want to talk about it?"

"Not particularly, no."

"You're correct." The girl sighed loudly, pursing her lips. "And yet, if one of us doesn't start talking, we won't get anywhere."

"Y-yeah. Right."

There was another moment of silence, accompanied only by a far-off bug, who seemed determined to try and drown out the silence of the woods with its call. It was a minute or so of that later that Sasuke realized neither of them had even tried to talk.

"Oi! You two!" Naruto's voice called from beyond the clearing, sounding more than a little irate. "5 minutes!"

He could tell, as he looked back towards Sakura's beat red face, that neither of them was going to say anything at all right now. he himself had no idea what he was supposed to say to the girl.

_What should I say? I mean, she confessed to me, right?_ Sasuke's thoughts swam in his head, trying desperately to form some kind of solution. _But if I don't feel the same way… or do I!? I don't even know!_

"Hey, Sasuke?"

He looked up at the girl before him, who, for the first time since they'd begun speaking, was looking him straight in the eye.

"I have an idea… And, well, I'm not sure if it's the best idea," Sakura admitted, folding her hands just in front of her, and running her thumbs in a circle nervously. "But… I know I can't exactly own up to how I feel right now. So, I'd like to make you a promise."

_Huh?_

"After the Chuunin Exams are over, and once this whole…" She rubbed her neck with her hand, right over the spot where Orochimaru's mark lay hidden. "Seal thing get's figured out, then… I'd like to talk about all of this, OK?"

Sasuke couldn't help but chuckle a bit as he heard it, causing the girl before him to look up with a small bit of embarrassment.

"W-what?"

"Nothing, It's just…" A small smile blossomed onto his face, and he couldn't help the pride in his breast either. "You seemed really mature, there."

The girl blinked once before her face exploded in color, and he couldn't help but chuckle when she turned her back to him, more than a little embarrassed.

"W-well, anyways, we should be getting back." He could just barely see a smile peeking out from behind her hair. "Wouldn't want that blonde idiot to worry, would we?"

"I suppose we wouldn't." Sasuke smiled back.

In the time it took the two of them to walk back, they discussed what their plans were for the rest of the exam, how they felt about some of the other leaf teams, and about the variety of bugs they'd encountered thus far.

"I can safely say that even if I never see another centipede in my life," Sakura spoke, eyes hard. "It will still be too soon."

"I feel that on a spiritual level."

As they passed through the last couple trees to enter the clearing Naruto sat in, Sasuke couldn't help but feel that the boy was being oddly quiet.

"Hey, guys." Naruto spoke up, waving his hand to the both of them.

"Hey, Naruto!" Sakura spoke, waving her hand back, and sitting down next to the boy.

"What've you been up to while we were away?"

"Nothing really, just watching the perimeter." The boy smiled up at him, but he couldn't help but feel that it was a bit... sedated.

It didn't remind him of a sunny day, not like it usually did.

Sakura's eyes narrowed, and she gave him a nod from behind the boy.

"Yeah, sorry about leaving you over here, I just wanted to talk to Sasuke about our plan for getting to the tower, seeing as how we have both scrolls, and since you're our strongest fighter, I figured you were the best to stay here."

"Eh, don't worry about it." The boy beside them both waved his hand, trying to brush their concerns away. "I get it. It's not a problem."

Sasuke smiled himself, standing up and drawing his bag onto his back.

"Well, we don't have too long before the sun starts to set, shall we be heading out?"

"I suppose we should!" Naruto spoke up, slinging his own bag on and walking to stand next to him.

"Oh, hey, Naruto?"

The boy looked over at him, a curious expression on his face.

"Yeah, man?"

The boy's eyes widened as Sasuke brought a kunai against his neck, not quite biting into it, but enough to threaten more. Sakura's own weapon dug into the boy's spine from behind, keeping him still.

"Mind telling us who you really are?" He spoke coldly, Sharingan spinning into place. "And what you've done with our teammate?"

The boy before them gave a harsh laugh at that, which seemed to echo endlessly among the trees above them.

"How'd you figure me out?"

"The real Naruto would've known what we were really talking about," Sakura spoke calmly. "And he would've known we only had a single scroll!"

"And he would've freaked out if we called him our strongest fighter." Sasuke snickered.

"Hmph, how amusing." The imposter spoke, smiling in a decidedly-not-Naruto kind of way.

A second later, mist exploded out from the boy's body.

Sasuke jumped backwards, making distance in case of a surprise attack. His Sharingan could see through any Genjutsu, but it appeared that the fog that now blanketed the area around them was real.

"Sakura!?"

"I'm here!"

The mist cleared after another moment or so, and he waved his teammate forward, standing back to back with her in the center of the clearing.

"Hehe," A voice echoed along the tree line above them. "They seem to think they can take us, don't they, boys?"

"Hehe, how lucky!"

"Very lucky!"

2 masked ninja landed in front of Sasuke, and from the way Sakura tensed behind him, he imagined another was facing her down as well.

Those in front of him were dressed… oddly would be a nice way to put it. They wore cream colored onesies, which was a clothing choice he felt he just couldn't agree with, and they each both had headbands that indicated they were from the Rain Village. One had a patch of cloth on his face that left his left eye uncovered, and the other just wore a blindfold.

_Is that… can he just... not see?_

_…Honestly I don't even want to know at this point._

Both of them wore the same mask, and judging by the voice of the man on Sakura's side, it seemed he was wearing one as well.

"Well then, we'll ask once just to be nice!" The ninja on his teammates side, who was also apparently this team's leader, spoke up. "Hand over your scroll, unless you all want to bite it!"

A snicker came from behind him, and he felt Sakura relax slightly.

"Alright, I've got this one, Sasuke, you think you can take those two?"

"Pfft," He couldn't help but laugh at the girl's question. "Do you need to ask?"

"Not really," The girl admitted. "I just wanted to give them a chance to repent."

"Yeah, that's what I figured."

"Not gonna' come quietly, ey?" The masked leader spoke up, drawing a kunai out from his pouch. "Fine then, Boys, Gut em'!"

"They don't seem to be repenting." Sasuke spoke as the two ninja facing him charged forwards, their kunai drawn in front of them.

"No. They most certainly do not."

"Well, keep one conscious, we do need to know where Naruto is."

"Got it."

They dashed to meet their opponents.

/-/

"W-what the hell…" The last conscious rain ninja just managed to push himself off the ground, staring into their faces in disbelief. "Why are you brats so strong!?"

"Do you want to take that," Sasuke spoke from beside her. "Or should I?"

"Eh," Sakura pondered for a few moments what she'd even say, and came up with a fat wad of nothing. "I don't have anything. Just tell us where our teammate is so we can knock you out."

"You're not going to let me answer his question?" Sasuke actually sounded a bit hurt.

"I don't really feel like letting this take a long time, if I'm being honest."

"Fine, fine." Sasuke sighed disappointedly, before looking down at the boy below them. "Well you heard her, where's our teammate?"

"I-I'll never tell yo-"

A shuriken impacted the space directly next to the ninja's face.

"He's about 20 meters that way," The boy pointed to his right, his finger shaking. "Tied to a tree about 10 meters off the ground!"

"Alright," As a last bit of humiliation, Sakura reached down and took the Heaven scroll off of their opponent. "Thanks for your help."

Sakura turned towards the forest as she heard Sasuke knock the Amegakure ninja unconscious, taking a few long strides into it.

It only took a moment to start hearing the muffled yelling.

"Quiet down Naruto, I'll be there in a second."

She heard the boy yell something back that may very well have been a response, but it was lost in whatever material was covering his mouth.

When she finally made her way up to the boy, and pulled the makeshift gag off him, Naruto had the nerve to look annoyed with her.

"Took you guys long enough."

"Naruto, it took us maybe 5 minutes."

The boy grumbled something under his breath, which Sakura thought sounded vaguely like "wouldn't have taken me that long", but she decided not to call the boy out on it.

"Alright, well, on the bright side," Sakura raised the Heaven scroll she'd looted from the Rain ninja. "We've got both scrolls now!"

"I guess that's a bright side." Naruto admitted with a pout.

She could tell the boy felt just a little left out, first with her and Sasuke talking to each other, and then missing the fight. She could empathize with that, though, she'd felt like that for far too long. It was only nowadays that she felt strong enough to stand beside the two of them, and every time she caught up, it seemed like they threatened to leave her behind yet again.

She patted the boy on the back, and held her hand out to him.

"C'mon, no pouting," She smiled playfully. "You'll get the chance to prove how strong you are in a day or two."

Naruto looked up at her, still pouting, but nodded, at least acknowledging her point. He took her hand a second later, letting her pull him up, and stood just beside her.

"Where's Sasuke?"

Said boy jumped up on their branch to stand beside them.

"Sorry, I was knocking out that guy from the Rain."

"Oh ok…" Naruto seemed to think about that for a second. "Does anyone else think it's weird that this is an entirely normal conversation we're having? Like, 'oh, someone tried to kill us again, no biggie.'"

They all laughed at that, though Sakura could definitely see where the boy was coming from with that one. It was a bit odd that they were suddenly so used to it, but they'd been assaulted by people trying to kill them 3 times in the last 5 days. It was a bit hard for the concept to still be novel.

It helped that their most recent assailants were the weakest they'd faced so far.

"At this point, it'd probably be best to make our way to the central tower." Sasuke spoke confidently, smiling over at the two of them. "Should we go now, or maybe rest for a bit? We were just in a fight."

"Eh," Sakura weighed the options in her head. "I'm not all that tired, you?"

"I'm fine to go on." Sasuke responded, turning to the third member of their team. "Naruto?"

"I'm good to go!"

"Alright then." Sasuke looked upwards, towards where the tree line parted just enough for them to see the central tower. "Shall we head out, then?"

Sakura smiled, as did Naruto beside her.

"Yeah!"

/-/

"Well, this place is… surprisingly big."

The three members of Team 7 were standing in a decently sized corridor, with two railed walkways just above them on both sides. The room was painted a neutral green color, and there was a scroll on the back wall.

On it was a poem.

"Open the series of Heaven and Earth… Oi! Sasuke!" Naruto shouted out, pointing at his friend. "I totally get what this says, but I don't think you do! Explain it!"

The Uchiha gave him a flat look.

"Why are you like this?"

The Jinchuuriki coughed into his fist.

"Anyways, just… make it make sense!"

"I think it just wants us to open our Heaven and Earth scrolls, right?" Sakura spoke up, sounding pretty sure of herself.

"Yeah, I assume so." Sasuke brought the scrolls out, throwing one over to him. "We'll open them at the same time, ok?"

"Gotcha'!" He nodded back, placing his thumb just underneath the scrolls' seal.

After they'd finished opening the scrolls, there was an explosion of white smoke, from out of which not one, but two familiar figures rose to meet them.

"Hello, Naruto, Everyone."

"Yo, you damned kids."

Zabuza Momochi and Iruka Umino stepped out of the smoke, looking murderous and proud, respectively.

"You brats… took 5 whole days to complete this test!?" Zabuza walked over to them, getting right in their faces.

"Well," Iruka spoke, seeming a bit frightened. "I'm proud of you all. You've done very well."

"If I still had a sword, I'd use it to skin your sorry hides!"

"I think your performance was exemplary, once you've finished here, you can head upstairs to rest for tomorrows battles."

"Look at you all, beat to shit in some kiddie exam!"

"I'm getting whiplash." He whispered to Sasuke.

"Yeah, tell me about it."

"I'm pretty sure this is an interrogation technique."

"Good cop, bad cop?" Sasuke snickered beside him.

"Yeah." He chuckled under his breath.

"Are you two whispering!?"

They shot up, going ramrod straight.

"N-No, sir!"

"Definitely not, sir!"

/-/

As they handed Kin off to the medical team, Zaku couldn't help the feeling of wanting to go with her, just to be sure she'd be alright.

He didn't, however, because he knew doing that would be putting them all at risk.

They were escorted through several rooms in the tower, eventually ending up in front of a small, almost hotel-like room.

"You'll be staying here until tomorrow's fights." Their escort told them, looking completely and utterly bored. "Don't leave the room unless there's an emergency, do not damage any of the items in the room, do not try and go to the exam site on your own, we will come to escort you."

As the man brought them inside, and stepped back out, he wished them luck.

Sitting down on his tiny bed, Zaku couldn't help but think the thing had seen better days.

"Alright, so… step 1, complete, I guess."

"Yeah." His teammate replied quickly, taking his gauntlet off and setting in on the table beside him. The boy had just begun to unwrap the bindings around his face when Zaku spoke up.

"What do we do now?"

"Win." Dosu said simply. "Because it's all that we can do."

It was harsh, but it was true. The reality of their situation was that they could, and probably would, be discarded. Really, it was at their master's leisure, they weren't important pieces of his plan, just a single part.

Just pawns.

There was a ringing in Zaku's ears as he thought that, a small, tiny voice seemed to cry out in the back of his head.

_"Hey, Zaku? __Can you promise me something?"_

_"Anything."_

_"Get out of this place. Get out of here and live your life how you want to, don't let anyone else tell you how to live it."_

_"I…"  
_

Zaku snapped back to reality, massaging his temples to try and get rid of the lingering pain that rang in his skull.

_That same memory again…_

"You alright?"

He looked up at Dosu, who was staring right at him.

"Y-yeah, just… some old memories I've been trying to ignore."

"Hmph…" Dosu finished unwrapping his face, and set his headband on the table as well. "Get some rest, you'll need it. The exams start up as soon as the sun rises."

"Yeah… I know." He laid back against the wall behind him, trying not to think about that memory. It wasn't fading like the last one, but seemed to be something he'd recovered for good.

Even still, it was only a piece. He could tell, because every second it seemed he was _this _close to hearing more of it, to figuring out who was who and what was what, but it eluded him.

He didn't want to think about it, and so of course, he did. It was all he could think about. The thoughts of that voice, that boy's voice, and his own, warred in his head for an hour, two hours, and longer still into the night.

And when morning came, he hadn't slept a wink.

/-/

Anko sat quietly in the camera room, doing her best not to gnaw her fingernails off as she waited as patiently as possible for any information to surface.

It was going poorly.

"Damnit, those kids Jiraiya was watching are back, so where the hell is he!?"

One of the Anbu watching the cameras with her flinched, looking up at her sheepishly.

"Uhm, I'm sure he was just held up with something, ma'am."

"Well he's still goddamned slow!" Anko's teeth ground together as she thought about that man getting up to any more madness while no one was watching him. "Gods, I can see why the Third Hokage had mixed feelings about bringing him on."

"Good to know I'm appreciated."

She turned to see the man she'd been looking for standing in the doorway, covered in leaves, and looking more than a little annoyed.

"Ah. Good, you're here." Anko walked over to him, a flash of anger in her gaze. "Those kids didn't see you?"

Jiraiya seemed mildly offended.

"They were Genin! I'm a world-renowned infiltration expert, if they spotted me, I'd have killed myself on the spot."

"Well, that's good, at least."

"What do you mean at least!?"

_I'm going to ignore that._

"What about Orochimaru, did he try and attack them again?"

"He didn't, though I suspect that's because I was there, and even then, some of his cronies still did." Jiraiya looked over at the camera's, pointing to one that focused on a room that held two boys, both from the sound village. "These guys work for Orochimaru, apparently."

Anko rose immediately, bringing a kunai into her left hand.

"Whoa, whoa," The white-maned giant put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her in her tracks. "Where are off to?"

"Are you kidding!?" Her anger flared once more, and she felt the telltale pain of her curse mark swelling onto her neck. "I'm going to go subdue those brats and haul them in for interrogation!"

"Don't be rash!"

Anko couldn't hide the surprise on her face as the man yelled at her. The giant took one of the chair's set up in front of the cameras, drew it behind him, and sat down.

"What do we gain by capturing those two?"

"Are you seriously asking that!?" She was furious now, this man was supposed to be one of Konoha's greatest, and he was questioning her on something as dull as this? "We get information on his plans, what he's here for, we could-"

"And why would they have that information?"

Her stunned silence seemed to be enough for the man, because he continued talking a moment later.

"You didn't get to see them fight, those kids over there, did you?" He pointed towards the screen. "They're Low-Chuunin-level opponents, small fry. There's no way they'd be given any more of the plan than was immediately relevant to them."

"I… I didn't consider that."

"And that's not your fault. Orochimaru's got us all on edge." Jiraiya sighed, drawing out a small bottle from his coat, and taking a drink of it. "I'd imagine facing down anyone else, you'd have figured all of that out on your own. I get it, believe me, I do, but unless we're careful about this, we lose one of our only sources of information about Orochimaru."

Now that, she didn't get.

"How are they sources of information like this?"

"Well, we know that they're working for Orochimaru, right?" Anko nodded to show she was following. "And they're only here for the exams. Therefore, we can assume anyone they interact with in the village is, themselves, an agent of Orochimaru."

When the man laid it out like that, Anko couldn't help but nod in agreement. The plan made sense.

"What I'm proposing is simple. I'll follow those two, or, I guess three, since the third is in one of the medical wings here, and see what I can find out."

"Wouldn't it be easy for Orochimaru to find you? Can't he… recognize your chakra or something?"

"He could, that is true, but at the same time, he'd be able to find someone less adept than me in much less time than it'd take for him to find someone of my caliber." Jiraiya gave a 'what can you do?' kind of gesture. "I'm still the best candidate, even with Orochimaru knowing me and my habits like the back of his hand."

That annoyed Anko a little, if she was being honest, she still wanted to be involved in this case in some way.

"I'd like to do something myself, though." She admitted a second later, deciding it was better to just come out and ask. "What can I do?"

"Hmm…" Jiraiya ran his hand along his chin, seeming a bit hard-pressed to come up with something. A while later, something seemed to dawn on him, and he smiled down at her.

"Actually, there is something you could do." Jiraiya stood, walking to stand just beside her. "Can I see the mark on your neck, just for a second?"

There was a momentary pause as Anko considered that.

"I swear if you try anything-"

"Yeah, even I'm not dumb enough to do that." Jiraiya stepped to stand behind her, moving her hair so that he could get a good look at her neck.

"It takes a second to manifest, give me a moment."

She thought of her darkest times, of her greatest failures, of Orochimaru getting away with all of this, and felt the telltale pain of the curse mark whirl to life on her neck.

"Hmm, so it is the same…"

"What are you talking about?"

"Earlier, when Orochimaru attacked those kids, I think he was trying to give one of them a curse mark."

That got a reaction out of her, and Anko was suddenly out of her seat, anger flowing freely across her face.

"Did he do it!?"

"Unfortunately, I think he did. I watched the battle between Team 7 and those sound ninja, and one of the members had a mark just like this one on their necks."

"So he was after someone? Is it possible that's the only reason he's here at all?"

"No, he wouldn't go this far just to corrupt one kid, he's just figured he can kill two birds with one stone." Jiraiya sounded grim as he rubbed his chin, seemingly deep in thought. "At least, that's what I assume, but it's possible that he's using all of this as a cover for some even grander scheme."

"You just don't think it's that?" She asked as she fixed her hair, bringing it back down over her curse mark, and letting the thing fade as her anger did, replaced instead by curiosity.

"Yeah, I think this is… not the endgame, but his magnum opus, if you catch my meaning. This is what he's been planning for, all these years." Jiraiya sounded oddly confident, and Anko realized with a small bit of sadness that the man had likely been chasing his old friend for decades now, hoping to find out what he really wanted. "Personally, I wish he'd get on with it, I much prefer fighting to strategizing."

Anko laughed.

"Same here, I'm not so much of a thinker, either." Her laughter died down after a few seconds, and she felt some small tension occupy the room. "So, what is it you'd have me do?"

"So, Team 7, on one team, there's the last Uchiha, The Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki," Jiraiya looked down at her, a small smile on his face. "And some random girl."

"Ok… so?"

"Well, some random girl just so happens to be the recipient of a little gift from our friend Orochimaru."

_What?_

"Why would he give her a curse mark?"

"According to what I could overhear from those three, it was a mistake. The curse mark was meant for Sasuke Uchiha, though even still, I don't know why." He looked over to her, sporting an odd grin. "But, that doesn't matter. What does matter is that I know what you can do to help!"

"Oh?" Anko could tell, now, that this wasn't going to be particularly fun for her. "And what would that be?"

He pointed to the camera feed, where the three members of Team 7 were idly conversing in a small room.

More specifically, he was pointing at a pink haired girl.

"I want you to train her."

**End Chapter 16  
**

* * *

**Hey Hey!**

**These upcoming battles have been in the works for a few weeks now, and I will say now that they're all going to be different from canon.**

**Well, most of them, anyways.**

**Sakura and Sasuke make a promise, though will it be kept, or broken?**

**Zaku regains a bit more of his memories, but he still can't see the full picture. Meanwhile, Orochimaru's plotting something, and Jiraiya and Anko are hot on his heels.**

**Or are they...?**

**Find out next time on Dragon Ball Z!**

**...**

**Anyways see you next week.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Yo!**

**I've been looking forward to this chapter for a while now, and I can safely say it's one of my favorites.**

**With this chapter, we also crest over 100,000 words, which is a pretty big deal, because before this story I think my highest word count on anything I'd written was like 7,000. So that's cool.**

**I'd like to note that we haven't really been focusing on our main trio as much in the past few chapters (Which is something that came to my attention as I realized I wrote maybe 6 or 7 lines of dialogue for Naruto this chapter, which is a criminally small amount for best boy), but that's been to let other characters share the spotlight as well. They'll be getting focus for their fights, and they all have things to do in the upcoming arc!**

**Also, someone in the reviews let me know that yes, Google Translate did betray me once again (to my immense shock), and that the actual way to write our "Without further ado" in french is "****sans plus de cérémonie". **

**I have no idea what the validity of this statement is, nor did I feel like doing a reverse check into Google Translate again, for it has already failed me once. Instead, I will put blind faith into someone who reviewed this story, and simply say:**

**Sans plus de cérémonie!**

* * *

**Chapter 17: Opened Eyes**

* * *

Zaku was exhausted, which he felt was fair, given that he hadn't slept at all.

The proctor who'd shown them to their rooms the previous night had come to retrieve them early in the morning, smiling at them and wishing them good luck the whole time. He'd grumbled his way to the arena beside his teammate, Dosu, who looked far better rested than he was.

"I _did_ tell you to sleep." The boy had said, looking more than a little annoyed.

"Yeah, it wasn't exactly on purpose, jackass."

He was on edge from more than just the lack of sleep. Today was the day their fates were sealed. Either they proved themselves in Orochimaru's scheme, or they were cast aside, and, more than likely, killed.

He swallowed on nothing as their guide pushed open a door just in front of them, leading them into a massive central room, where a gargantuan carving of the leaf's unison sign hung upon the back wall.

Zaku realized that they were one of the first groups to arrive as he looked around, seeing only 1 other group present. He ground his teeth together as he realized who it was.

Team 7, their targets, and the one's who'd nearly killed Kin.

They'd noticed them as well, it seemed, as Sasuke Uchiha took a subtle stance, not directly threatening, but more of a deterrent. He didn't take his eyes off of them as he spoke to his teammates, gesturing their way as they looked over towards them.

Upon seeing Zaku, the other two members of that accursed team stiffened. The pink-haired girl, who'd been the one to stab Kin in the chest and shoulder, paled. She stood silently for just a moment, before actually taking a step towards them.

_What is she doing?_

Two hands stopped the girl in her tracks, each belonging to one of her teammates. They exchanged heated words, to which the girl could respond only with a small declaration, and she turned back towards them with fire in her eyes.

A second later, they let her go, gazing over towards Zaku and his teammate with a silent promise.

_'Try anything, and you answer to us.'_

_Yeah, trust me,_ Zaku thought, growling under his breath._ I get it._

After the girl had walked the few paces towards them, she faltered, standing just a step or two away from him and Dosu.

"The hell do you want?" He could feel some anger seeping into his words, anger that he hadn't meant to make known.

Pink-hair looked up at them, opened her mouth, blanked on what she wanted to say, and closed it.

"W-what happened to your arm?"

He'd actually nearly forgotten about what Orochimaru had done to it, what with the immense stress they'd been faced with. Staring down at the makeshift splint he'd spent some time in the forest making, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of annoyance.

_This girl… It's all her fault._

"I broke it, fell off a tree." He lied easily, looking at her nonchalantly. "You got something to say, or what?"

The girl took a deep breath, and seemed to resign herself.

"W-where's the… your third member?" She spoke quietly, nearly whispering.

Something in the girl's expression made him shake with rage, and he had to physically calm himself down, taking a deep breath before he answered her question.

"She's in the medical bay, recovering from when you stabbed her!" He practically spat out.

He hadn't expected the girl to deflate at his words, falling to her knees in front of him in abject relief.

"That's…" The girl sighed deeply, a smile adorning her face. "That's fantastic."

"What?"

"I was worried I… I thought she might have succumbed to her wounds," The girl shook her head, likely trying to dispel such thoughts. "I'm just glad to hear everything was alright."

His teeth ground together.

_Alright!?_ Zaku seethed silently._ She thinks everything just turned out hunky-dory!? _

"Well, if that's all, then kindly go fu-"

"That's not it!" The girl interrupted him, looking up at him with steel in her gaze. "I also wanted to… thank you personally."

Staring down at someone he'd been ordered to kill as they thanked them on hands and knees, he couldn't help but wonder how he was supposed to react.

_What am I supposed to say to this shit?_

"We tried to kill you, and you're coming over here to say fucking thank you!?"

The girl blushed, blushed, for gods' sake, and looked down, seemingly unsure of how to word her thoughts.

"Whatever it is that Orochimaru put on me… It was affecting me." She rubbed the back of her neck absentmindedly. "I wasn't myself, and I… I almost killed that girl."

The kunoichi below him finally looked him in the eye, but her gaze was softer than he'd thought it'd be, filled with honest gratitude.

"Thank you for stopping me. Even if you were just doing it to save your teammate, thank you." The girl looked away again, seemingly having said her piece, before, with an almost embarrassed smile, she once again looked towards him. "Oh, and… I don't think you guys are all that bad of people, so… I think you should probably stop working for that Orochimaru guy, he's bad news."

White hot anger shot through his veins as he stared down at the girl before him, and he scowled fiercely as he grabbed her by the shirt and hauled her off of the ground, shoving her back towards her team.

"Go." He commanded sharply.

"W-what?"

"Go back to your team, and stay the hell away from me, no, from us." He pushed the girl lightly, making her stagger back a pace or two.

"Why are you acting like that, I-"

"Don't ask me that bullshit!"

He'd screamed it so loud that the proctor's who stood on the walkways above them peered over, looking ready to intervene if this turned into a fight, but Zaku didn't care. There was too much anger coursing through him, too many things that raged within him, for him to ignore now.

"Why am I acting like this!?" Zaku howled, incensed with rage at the girls' question. "You want to know!? You come over here like a spoiled child, so comfortable in your own little world, and you say that you're oh so happy that you get to keep your eyes closed!"

The girl took a step back, her eyes wide.

"If that were all, then fine, you're just some spoiled little brat, I've met a million of those." Zaku's knuckles were white as he balled his fists at his side. "You're someone who's never seen the real world, and that's fine. Honestly, I'm jealous."

"W-what?"

"You were born in this village, grew up in this village, and, if I were to guess, I'd say you'll die in this village, too. Never once seeing the world, realizing just how bad it can be, just how unfortunate some of the rest of us are."

"What are you talking about!?"

A firm hand grabbed his shoulder, trying to pull him back. He knew without looking that it was Dosu, but he didn't much care. He had to teach this ignorant brat what the world was really like.

"I doubt you'll ever have to scrounge for food in the garbage, or steal from shops and stalls on the streets, or pick the pockets of other people who are just as unfortunate as you are, all just to survive." Zaku could tell his words were having an effect on the girl, for she drew further back with every word.

_Good._

Behind her, the girl's teammates were stepping up to face him, but as he kept speaking, they halted.

"But all of that's fine, I don't expect everyone to have to go through the same shit I did. I'm not some idiot who thinks everyone in the worlds gonna' get dealt a bad hand. If that were it, I honestly would've accepted all this, just gone on and ignored you…"

His eyes locked onto hers, his face showing only fury.

"But then you have the fucking audacity to tell me to "stop working for him!?""

The girl looked indignantly at him; her lips drawn down in a small frown as she tried to retaliate.

"And what's so wrong with that? Do you honestly like working for that guy!?"

"Of course I don't!"

She took a step back, a quiet terror playing upon her face, like she was trying in vain to run away from his words.

The look suited her.

"Do you honestly think anyone would want to work for someone like him!?" He roared, throwing his arms out in wild gestures. "You think it's just the bad guys who end up on his side, don't you?"

He laughed as the girl tensed, realizing that was exactly what she'd thought.

"Everything's so black and white to you, isn't it!? Good! You should let it stay that way! Life's way easier if you can honestly believe that everyone you'll have to face down on the battlefield is evil!" Dosu pulled on him hard, trying once more to prevent him from shouting out, but Zaku broke away, leaning into his words like they were blows. "Don't take the time to realize that they've got people, too! Don't even think about how maybe, just maybe, they want to be there about as much as you do!"

"Or maybe, they're attacking because the food where they come from is scarce, and they don't have enough land to grow more! Or because they just want to protect the people they care about! Or maybe, just maybe, they never had a damned choice in the matter from the beginning!"

He looked upon the girl before him, silently relishing in her mortification as he dug into her.

"Some of us got picked up off of the street, told that our only chance to live was to become weapons, to jump when told to jump, to kill when we were told to kill, who we were told to kill, no questions asked."

"So no, _girl_." He found himself finally out of breath, his tirade finished. "I won't be leaving Orochimaru's service, and if I do?" He leaned directly into her face, barely six inches separating them. "It'll be because I'm dead."

The girl before him stared up at him in fear for just a moment longer, before her face contorted once more.

Pity.

"I'm sorry, I… I didn't know."

_Looking down on me…?_

A flash of red, and the feeling of hands all over him, preventing him from going any further.

His fist had been stopped only an inch from the girl's face.

"Sakura, are you alright!?" Sasuke Uchiha, the one who had stopped Zaku's blow mid-flight, spoke to the girl beside him, who was still frozen in shock.

"Y-yeah." She just barely managed to breath out a response, pushing herself off of the floor and backing away.

"Please refrain from attacking each other outside of the sanctioned fights."

He looked over at the man who'd spoken, who, even now, had yet to remove his hand from Zaku's shoulder. He seemed to be a Jonin, and quite obviously from the Leaf village, judging by the green jacket, and the headband. He coughed once or twice into his other hand, though even still, his aura was that of a skilled ninja.

"I'm sorry, sir," Dosu spoke up from behind him, the last person to have held him back. "It won't happen again."

The Jonin seemed unimpressed, but released Zaku a second later, anyways.

"See that it doesn't." The man spoke before he walked away, moving to stand back in the middle of the arena, beside him were a few other Leaf Jonin, who were all looking over towards their little grouping, as if it were the only interesting thing they'd seen all day.

"The hell do you think you're doing, anyways!?" The blonde ninja, who Zaku remembered very vaguely being named Naruto, yelled over at him, walking quite briskly towards him as he continued. "You looking to get beaten up by my super jutsu, you bastard!?"

To Zaku's quiet surprise, Dosu stepped in front of the both of them, holding his hand out at the young boy.

"The proctor has just told us to leave this be, I think it would be wise to follow his advice."

"What!?" The other boy didn't seem to agree, bringing his fist up in front of his face and looking like he wanted to say something more, but he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder, this time by the pink-haired kid he'd yelled at just a minute ago.

"It's alright, Naruto, he didn't hit me."

"What are you talking about, it doesn't matter if he didn't hit you! He tried to, that's it!" Naruto turned back towards him, an angry glint in his eyes. "And I don't let anyone lay a hand on my friends."

There was a tiny needle of pain in the back of his skull at the boy's words, as if one insignificant memory was trying to show itself.

A shouting voice in a cramped back-alley, amid dumpsters filled to the brim with unkempt trash, and among rats and bugs crawling on the ground, there was a miniscule, naïve little brat, filled with far too much hope for his tiny little frame, that demanded attention.

_"I won't let you hurt him!" _

_The boy shouted, drawing his knife out and bringing it down into the adults face, as many times as he needed until the man's movements ceased._

_"Y-you saved me, Zaku."_

_He looked back towards the sound of the voice to find a face filled with residual fear, running with tears._

_"If you hadn't shown up, that bastard… he would've… I…" His friend paled, covering a small cut on his abdomen with his hand. "I could've died…"_

_"It's alright, Reis." He reached down, taking the boy's hand in his own. "You're alright."_

_"I…I almost…" The boy hiccupped lightly, before huge dollops of tears started to stream down his face, and he sobbed openly._

_"It's ok, Reis." He spoke quietly, trying his best to comfort his only friend. "It'll be okay."_

_"I'll protect you."_

"Your name is Zaku, right?"

He was flung back to the present, staring back into the face of the pink-haired girl, Sakura.

His anger had died down, but even still, he didn't want to look at her, didn't want to have to think about anything other than the memory that had flashed through his mind.

_Reis__…_ His head ached as he tried to remember anything else about the boy from that memory just now, but he wasn't able to find anything. _Why does that name sound so familiar?  
_

Still, the girl asked him a question, and even if he didn't really want to answer, it was better than getting yelled at by her teammates again.

"Yeah." He was surprised to find his own voice so weak as he spoke, coming out scratchy and quiet. "What of it?"

"I won't say sorry, not again. But I will say this." The girl took a deep breath, steeling herself. "I'll do my best to see more of the world. I… I won't pretend like I know everything anymore, so…"

To his shock, the girl bowed deeply before him.

_What…?_

"Thank you, once again."

He didn't even possess the strength anymore to get upset with the girl, and instead all he had left was a simple question.

"Thank me? What for?"

The girl smiled up at him, so innocently, but carrying just the smallest bit of pain.

"For opening my eyes."

Something in the girl's statement made him hesitate, made him want to respond, but the sound of the doors opening behind them had them all looking backwards.

"Yo, Sakura!" A blonde Leaf Genin shouted out, waving her hand above her head towards the pink-haired kunoichi.

"Ah, hey Ino!" The girl seemed to welcome the distraction, giving Zaku one last nod before she walked over to her friend, laughing and talking with her as they took their designated places.

Dosu put his arm around Zaku's shoulder, leaning into his ear.

"What the hell was that!?" He whispered angrily, trying to keep his voice quiet. "You're lucky Orochimaru wasn't here, we'd have been killed just like that!"

Zaku had to smirk at that.

"Right, I'll keep quiet."

"Yeah, I completely believe you." Dosu rolled his eyes, sighing quietly as he walked back into his spot, watching and waiting as more people entered into the room.

When it seemed everyone had arrived, the Third Hokage, who'd entered the room just before the last students, began to speak. He talked about the history of the Chuunin Exams, what they meant to each of the villages, and how they encouraged cooperation between the villages.

Zaku didn't care about a single word that came out of the man's mouth, he couldn't really muster up the energy to, not when he was potentially a few minutes away from the most important fight of his life.

"And now, I'll hand things over to this exam's proctor, Mr. Hayate."

The Hokage gestured over towards the same man who'd stopped them earlier, who coughed a few more times into his left fist, before he addressed them all.

He went over how the fights would be laid out, a random setup of match-ups, though, apparently, competitors would be able to face members of their own teams, which was something Zaku hadn't known coming into this.

_That means… if I get paired against Dosu…_

He gulped as he tried to ignore that thought. Surely the universe didn't hate him that much.

"Now, I'll ask that if anyone wants to drop out of this stage of the exam, they do so at this time." The proctor spoke, raising his own hand in the air. "All you have to do is raise your hand, and a proctor will escort you out."

_Ah, I almost forgot, Orochimaru said his agent's leaving once the second stage starts._

No one moved, nor was a single hand raised in the air.

_Wait… what?_

"No one? In that case, please look towards the screen in the back."

At that, a giant hole opened up in the back wall, revealing a black screen that flashed with the names of each of the competitors.

After a few seconds, two names flashed up on the screen, and Zaku was mildly surprised to see a name he knew.

**_Sakura Haruno vs. Yoroi Akadō_**

"Anyone who is not one of those two fighters, please head to the railings above. You'll be able to locate your Sensei from here, please walk to meet them."

At those words, Zaku looked above him, seeing in just a moment the disguised Orochimaru, smiling down at them maliciously.

"Welp," Zaku sighed, trying to calm his fraying nerves. "This is it."

"Yeah." His partner replied.

He looked back over at the bandaged boy, smirking lightly.

"Good luck."

Dosu gave a harsh laugh under his breath.

"Same to you."

/-/

The fact that Sakura was up first was both a blessing and a curse for the girl.

It meant, of course, that she wouldn't have to be constantly fretting about when her match would be called, and that she'd be able to watch the remainder of the fights in relative peace.

Unfortunately, it also meant she had approximately 12 seconds to prepare herself mentally for a fight before the proctor began to run down the rules for their bout.

"Keep it as clean as you can. Accidents happen, but try to resort to lethal force as a last resort, if at all possible." Mr. Hayate coughed into his hand, in what Sakura was gradually realizing must've been a condition of some sort. "You won't be penalized for it, but just keep that in mind."

"Yes sir." She spoke confidently, not really put off by the idea that she'd be facing someone in a duel that could end in either one of their deaths.

Honestly, that seemed to be all she'd been doing for the past few weeks now, so this was nothing new. The only thing that bothered her was the slight pain that sprang from the mark on her neck as she looked at the railings above her.

_That team's Sensei… _Sakura thought as she looked towards the Sound duo, and their Jonin leader. _He gives me the creeps, and the mark on my neck flares up, too…_

"Are the both of you ready?"

Her idle pondering put aside for the moment, Sakura nodded over towards the Jonin. The other combatant, who looked to be much older than her, nodded as well.

"Then, let the first fight of the Chuunin Exams Second Round…" The man paused, his hand hovering in the air.

"BEGIN!"

Sakura was weaving signs with her hands the moment the man's hand came down, jumping backwards as she did. The man had a much stockier frame than she did, and she gathered immediately that in a short range duel, she'd be outmatched in strength.

Better to fight at longer range, and use one of the new Jutsu she'd picked up in the process.

It was a technique that, a bit ironically, came from the Rain ninja they'd faced in the Forest of Death. They'd used illusions to clone themselves, fog to hide themselves, but also, one lone attack jutsu.

She mimicked the movements she'd seen from the Rain Ninja back in the forest, copied the hand signs, and brought her hand up to her mouth.

"Water Style: Water Bullet!"

A harsh stream of water was expelled from her mouth, firing off at high speeds at the ninja before her.

What she hadn't expected was for the man to simply tank it on his arms, crossing them over his face and chest and preventing the Jutsu from doing any real damage.

_Crap! _Sakura thought, biting her lip as she felt the chakra allotted for the technique run out. _The jutsu those guys in the forest used had a lot more stopping power!_

She knew that she probably shouldn't have tried to use a jutsu for the first time in a real fight, but after sizing up her opponent, she'd thought this would be the best choice of action.

The man moved quickly as her torrent ceased, breaking into her guard with extreme speed.

In the second it took him to close the distance, she observed for any weapons the man was carrying, trying to see if she should be blocking with a kunai, but was surprised to see him stretch his bare hand out at her.

_A martial artist?_

It certainly wasn't unheard of. Taijutsu was just as legitimate of a practice for someone to specialize in as Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, and so she brought her arms up to block the strike, counting on her ninja training to tank the blow.

It was far softer than she'd imagined, not the palm strike she'd imagined, but instead a grab, that soon turned into a grapple.

"W-what!?" she choked out as the man got behind her, one arm around her neck, and the other holding her right arm out to the side. He lifted her a few inches off the ground not a moment later.

"Hmph, let's see what you'll do without any chakra to speak of!"

_Without any chakra!?_

She remembered back to her talk with Zabuza, when she'd told him about the curse mark.

_"Now listen, I'm not going to tell you not to compete." The man had said, rubbing the back of his neck and sighing deeply. "Honestly I don't think you'd listen even if I said that."_

_"You're correct, sir." She answered._

_"I will say this, however." The man raised his finger up at her, pointing directly into her face. "If that thing starts acting up, I'm withdrawing you immediately from the exam, got it?"_

_"W-What!? That's not fair, I can't-"_

_"You can't control it, right?"_

_"Kch…" the man was right, of course. She had no way of controlling the curse mark. _

_"If it activates, I pull you, end of story." Zabuza looked up at her, eyes unapologetic. "It's not fair, but kid? That's life."_

She felt the chakra in her body gradually decline, exiting from where the ninja's hands covered her, one on her right arm, and the other just over her –

Just over her curse mark!

_Does he know?_

The mark on her neck was starting to hurt a little as more and more of her chakra was sucked out, and she struggled viciously against the man's hold, but found herself unable to escape.

"Now be a good girl and run out of chakra." The man spoke creepily into her ear, practically breathing on her as he did. It send a chill up her spine, and a white hot feeling of fear coursed through her.

_Think, Sakura! _Her inner voice shouted out. _What do we have to get this bastard off of us!?_

What did she have, what did she have?

Water bullet? No, that wouldn't work, he was behind her. Mud wall? Her hands wouldn't be able to touch the ground. A kunai and some shuriken? Alone, they wouldn't be enough to overcome this man in close quarters.

A combination of all three?

…That could work.

She brought her head forward slightly, before, readying herself for the pain, she brought her head back to connect with the man's skull.

The man was clearly buffeted by the impact, but he didn't let her go.

_That's fine, I don't need you to!_

She reached her left hand into her bag, and, with a small grunt, thrust the kunai up into the man's stomach.

He dropped her with a cry, clutching his chest as a small pool of blood began to pool on it. it wasn't a particularly deep wound or anything, and certainly nothing a doctor wouldn't be able to patch up in a minute or two, but it hadn't needed to be.

That was just step one.

She forced her hands to move, forming the signs for the Jutsu she'd grown accustomed to in the last few weeks.

"Earth Style: Mud Wall!"

She brought her hands to the ground, forming a small, densely packed wall of earth that sprang up in front of the ninja.

She had a few seconds at best, and so she reached back into her bag, and, with a small smile, brought out the flask that was in there. She took a giant swig of the water, but kept it in her cheeks instead of swallowing it.

The man flung himself over the wall, looking annoyed but undeterred. He ran at her, zigzagging slightly as he did, trying to avoid a potential jutsu.

That was fine, he was only slowing himself down.

_'Water Style: Water Bullet!'_ She thought to herself, bringing her hand in front of her mouth and, trying to use the liquid in her mouth as a catalyst, fired the technique.

It was definitely more water, but as she'd feared, it wasn't fired with any more potency in terms of force. The man brought his arms up, tanking the barrage of water with ease.

"This all you got, kiddo?" The ninja taunted, stepping towards her slowly.

She smirked a second later.

_Gotcha._

The man screamed as a shuriken impacted his stomach, just below where his arms were guarding. If he hadn't been covering his face, Sakura imagined it would've been easy for the man to stop her attack.

_But of course, _Sakura smirked, feeling more confident than she had in quite a long time as she charged forward. _I planned it all!_

She slid underneath a clumsy, almost desperate attack from the ninja as he tried in vain to fight off the pain. She kicked off the man's chest, arching into the air in a back-flip, and landing a few feet away from where she'd been just a second ago.

She looked towards her opponent as she ran forward, seeing the man having fallen onto the floor, still trying to get up even after all of that.

"Oh no you don't!" She shouted, leaping forward with a kunai drawn, and landing on top of the other ninja, straddling him as she brought her knife to the man's throat. "Yield!"

Yoroi breathed hard, made a sound of disappointed disgust, and spoke.

"I yield."

Sakura breathed out in relief as the proctor, who was stood just behind them, called the match, raising his hand in the air and proclaiming her the winner.

"Hell Yeah!" A loud, almost obnoxious voice sounded out across the entire arena, echoing off the walls and into everyone's ears. "You go Sakura! Team 7 represent!"

She looked up to see Naruto with his hands in front of his mouth, forming a makeshift megaphone as he called out his support to her, and to see Sasuke waving, a small smile set upon his face.

She waved back to the dark-haired boy and gave the blonde a thumbs-up, then turned back towards the proctor, listening to what he had to say.

"Well then, Sakura Haruno, you have qualified for the next stage of the Chuunin Exams. You may choose to exit the arena now, in which case you can head back to your room, or you can join your Jonin Sensei on the railings above."

"I'll go see my team, then." She smiled up at the man, feeling just a little giddy about the win.

The man smiled back at her, before he walked over to the other competitor, watching as a stretcher was brought out, and he was carried off into the medical wing to treat the two wounds on his stomach.

As she climbed the thin set of stairs to meet her team, Sakura couldn't help but notice another person standing at the top, watching her ascent.

_The proctor from the Forest of Death?_

Upon further inspection, her first instinct proved correct. The woman was dressed in the same tan trench coat and fishnets, nothing else adorning her figure as she turned towards the stairs and descended them, walking to meet her halfway.

"So," The woman, Anko, if she recalled, gave her a quick inspection, studying her frame up and down. "You're Sakura Haruno, huh?"

"Uhm…" She wasn't quite sure what to say, she hadn't spoken to this woman in her life. "Yes?"

The woman sighed, looking over her shoulder and back down to the arena, where the competitors were looking antsy to see who would be up next.

"Alright, I guess you'll do." The woman took a scroll out of her coat and handed it to Zabuza, who skimmed it briefly before his eyes widened. "An order from someone a bit higher up, I'm in charge of training this brat for the next stage of the exam."

"What?" She spoke, confused.

"What!?" Her teammates shouted.

"What?" Their stand-in sensei, Zabuza, questioned, looking mildly annoyed.

"Eh, don't think about it too hard." Anko stepped up to her and grabbed Sakura by the collar, hauling her off of her feet, and carrying her along her back like one would a coat. "I'll have her back by 8, I promise."

"Wait, where are we going!?" Sakura couldn't help but screech out, feeling more than a little violated.

"Don't ask dumb questions." The woman spoke back, sighing as she dragged her through one of the doors out of the arena, and into a higher corridor in the tower.

"What do you mean dumb questions? I'm being kidnapped!"

The woman seemed to ponder that for a second, before waving her hand in the air, as if dispelling her argument.

"Eh, semantics."

"What do you mean 'semantics!?'"

/-/

As Rock Lee watched his one true love be dragged out of the arena by some unknown woman, he couldn't help but feel the slightest bit confused.

"Uhm, Guy Sensei, who was that?" He asked his mentor, who was standing just a bit behind him and the rest of his team.

"That, my students," His teacher looked up, a fearful look in his eyes as he continued. "Is someone you should hope you never meet."

"Uh, what does that mean?" Tenten asked, flipping a kunai on her finger as she turned to look back at her teacher.

"A demon…" Guy whispered as he cowered against the back wall, tears streaming down his face. "She's a demon!"

"Right…" The only female member of their team sighed, looking back towards the massive screen on the back wall. "Still, that was a pretty good fight! I didn't expect Sakura to handle herself so well."

Lee caught something in the girls statement that made him tilt his head.

"Tenten, have you met Sakura?"

The girl turned back to look at him, a confused expression on her face, before she seemingly connected the dots.

"Oh, right, yeah, I met Team 7 in the forest of death, they're the guys that gave me their earth scroll."

"Ah," Neji spoke up, looking at Tenten annoyedly. "So they're the reason you were late by a full day."

The girl in question coughed into her fist, looking anywhere else but at the Hyuga as she whistled quietly to herself.

"But isn't Sakura just the most beautiful girl you've ever seen!?" Lee spoke up, turning back towards the arena with hearts in his eyes. "She's perfect! I've decided to dedicate my next fight to her!"

Tenten sighed, looking over at him with a disappointed expression.

"Right, well, you have fun with that."

"Pay attention," Neji, their self-appointed leader, spoke assertively, gesturing to the black screen at the back of the hall. "They're announcing the next fighters."

The names on the screen flashed by quickly, never remaining more than for a few tenths of a second. Lee only caught a few, mostly the ones he knew. Naruto, Sasuke, Tenten, Neji, Lee, and he briefly caught the name Gaara scattered among them as well.

When the machine finally stopped, Lee felt the air in his lungs evacuate his body, and he had to grip the railing in front of him to keep from shaking.

Their teacher patted Lee on the back, leaning over his shoulder.

"This is it, Lee. This is what you've been training for." The man gave him a pearly smile, his expression confident. "Go on and show him how strong you really are!"

His hands were shaking as he brought them up in front of him. It wasn't nerves, no, it might have been, but that wasn't all that was there.

It was excitement, because this was finally the moment of truth.

**_Neji Hyuga vs. Rock Lee_**

"Oh?." His teammate looked back over at him, the pale eyes of the Hyuga clan narrowed, forming a small, competitive expression. "Well, well, I suppose we can finally settle this once and for all, no?"

"Yeah," Lee spoke, quieter and more serious than he had ever been. He brought his arms up before him, and, unclenching his left hand into an open palm, slammed his right fist into it.

Would genius prevail, proving once and for all that effort could never truly match talent? Or would his own training, going against what everyone he'd ever met had told him, show the world the value of hard work.

He couldn't wait to prove himself.

"Finally!"

**End Chapter 17**

* * *

**Heyo!**

**This will be the first of the fights I'm excited about writing. There are of course a few throwaway fight's, because there have to be with so many people taking part, but I'd say that at least 7 of the 10 fights are going to be super fun, and the three that'll be kinda boring won't take that long at all, maybe a few hundred words at most.**

**Neji vs Lee is one of the biggest things that Kishimoto built up, and then just sort of... forgot about? Who knows, but Lee never really got the chance to challenge the idea that hard work can surpass genius, even if maybe Naruto did in his stead.**

**Still, I always felt that the boy wonder himself deserved his shot, and I've decided to give it to him.**

**Welp, that's all from me, see you all next week!**

**(P.S. I know now that I'm going to be moving some time next month, so this story will be going on hiatus within a few chapters. It won't be terribly lengthy, probably 3 weeks to a month, but if I forget to write it in a note then, well, at least I wrote it here, right?)**


	18. Chapter 18

**Yo.**

**Actually nothing to say this week.**

**Tuohtiw ******rehtruf o************da******, and all that jazz.**

* * *

**Chapter 18: To Prove Oneself  
**

* * *

Lee practically vibrated in place as he waited on the white stone floor of the arena for his match to begin.

He'd been taught by his sensei to analyze situations carefully, for without chakra, he began almost any confrontation at a disadvantage, and needed any information he could get. He felt terrible, but he couldn't mind that advice, not when the subject of his training, the boy he'd been itching to fight for over a year now, was finally stood before him.

"I'll quickly go over the rules for this bout…" The coughing proctor spoke quietly, beginning to read off of a small clipboard he held in his hands, though Lee couldn't focus on that. His Sensei's advice, the last thing he'd told him just before he descended the large set of stairs into the arena, kept echoing in his head.

_"This is it, Lee." The man looked down on him excitedly, smiling in that way that was so bright it was off-putting to anyone else but himself. "What you've trained for, what you've fought for, what you've bled and cried for." _

_"Yes." He nodded along, sensing the pep-talk before his teacher even really started it._

_"I won't take too long with this, mostly because you only have 3 minutes to prepare…" The man trailed off, narrowing his eyes towards the screen at the back of the room. "And… you're both my students. I will not be giving you any special help against Neji, or telling you his weaknesses."_

_Lee nodded. He wouldn't need them. He'd been training against the boy for over a year, had hit him, been hit by him, well over a thousand times. He knew the ins and outs of the Hyuga's fighting style, just as Neji did his own._

_"I will tell you this alone, however," His sensei stood a bit taller than normal, perhaps swelling a small amount with pride at seeing the culmination of their efforts. "Go all out from the very beginning, do not give Neji the chance to think, for he will use it, and use it well."_

_Behind them, Tenten sighed, her eyes narrowed as she looked between them._

_"Didn't you just say you wouldn't help him?"_

_Guy seemed to ponder that for a moment, before, in what seemed to be a moment of clarity, he slapped his hand over his own mouth, likely not trusting himself to be quiet. He held his other hand out towards lee, giving him a gusto-filled thumbs-up, before he walked to stand next to Tenten, observing the arena below them._

"Are the both of you ready?"

The question brought Lee's mind back to the present, and he gave his own affirmation around the same time that his teammate did, looking over at the boy without any hesitation.

"I'm going to win, Neji."

His opponent seemed almost surprised at the tone of his voice. So crystal clear, so absolutely sure that he was correct. The Hyuga's eyes narrowed, though a small smile split his face a second later.

"I doubt it, but it's always good to dream big, I suppose."

Their rivalry wasn't a friendly one, not overly so. They were still teammates, however, and that meant that they did, at the very least, get along decently well. They could support one another on the battlefield, could identify weaknesses in the other's abilities, and had helped each other reach new heights.

Their was no need for any further words. Both were dead set in their convictions. Both knew, for a fact, that they were in the right.

And so, with a determined expression, Lee took his stance, one hand held before him, with the other behind his back.

Neji did the same, arching himself forward, making a T with his arms and body as he leaned towards him. A traditional gentle fist stance.

He'd seen it a million and a half times.

He'd beaten it only a few.

He swallowed his sudden bout of nerves, they would do him no good.

The proctor looked between the two of them, and, apparently having decided that they were ready to begin, rose his hand in the air.

"Let the second match of the Chuunin Exams Second Exam…"

His hand was brought swiftly downwards, cutting a path through the air as it came to a stop.

"BEGIN!"

Neither of them was still for more than a moment, neither of them had any reason to be. Even if Neji could use chakra, he prioritized the gentle fist and it's techniques over any Ninjutsu he could've cast in the same time, and Lee could see why.

It was a powerful strike that met him in the center of the ring, and it nearly knocked him backwards as he allowed the palm to crash against the back of his right arm. Anyone else wouldn't have been able to use such a reckless defense, but for Lee, it wasn't a problem. He had no need to make chakra flow through his arms to cast jutsu, seeing as he had no chakra at all.

A few traded blows later, none of which had any effect on either of them, and the two broke apart, sailing backwards a few feet, and sizing one another up.

In a normal sparring session between the two of them, Lee was fairly sure Neji would've simply charged in again, counting on his better than average reaction time, along with his Byakugan, in order to dodge whatever he could throw at him. But for the both of them, this was more than a spar. They were both just a little more hesitant, acting cautiously at the start, to avoid making any mistakes out of the get go.

His opponent gave a small chuckle, bringing his hand up to his face, and, holding it directly in front of his nose, brought out the power of his bloodline.

"Byakugan!"

The customary veins flowed out from his eyes, and Lee realized that, if the boy was taking him this seriously, than it was only right for him to release his own limiters.

He dropped down into a kneel, reaching into the legwarmers around his calves, and drawing out the weights that resided there. He could hear a few people above them laughing, probably wondering just what the hell removing some weights was going to do. The laughter stopped when he threw them away from him, and they hit the ground with an almighty crash, sending small pieces of stone spiraling into the air.

He charged at his teammate, not bothering to try and attack him from the side, or from behind, knowing there was virtually no difference with his Byakugan activated. The boy intercepted his strike, making a smart decision in hunkering down in that spot, using his Byakugan and gentle fist to meet his blows at any angle.

It didn't matter if he were the faster of the two of them if Neji never tried to outmaneuver him.

As he landed a way's away again, taking a breath after his last volley, he was surprised to find the Hyuga already on him, and he just barely managed to block a blow meant for his left side, and subsequently, his heart, with his left elbow.

He winced as he felt the bones in his arm creak, but knew there was no way around the pain. It would've been incredibly naïve to think he could fight Neji Hyuga, arguably the strongest ninja in there year, and come out without a single injury.

They broke apart, and Lee felt it was about time to accept that they were evenly matched at this stage. Neji had prepared a strategy for his speed, and even if it was a simple one, borne of his eye's ability more than anything, it was still effective.

Around this time, against anyone else, he would've brought out his Lotus's, but not against Neji. The Hyuga had been a big help in his learning of the ability, though perhaps only unconsciously, occasionally observing the technique in it's earliest stages, and giving him ideas for how to use it.

Untying the wrappings around his arms would've been a signal for the ninja across from him, and it would've said "here's what I'm going to do, counter it."

Instead, he concentrated for a moment, breathing deeply as he mentally reached out for the first gate.

"The First Gate of Opening… Release!"

A field of force surrounded him, and he couldn't help but revel in his own power as he felt the ground around him crack.

_This _was the result of hard work, and nothing else. No special eye, no ingrained talent, pure, unadulterated effort, and he would prove it's strength, right here, right now.

Though he couldn't help but narrow his eyes as he looked at his opponent. The Hyuga wasn't gasping in surprise, or even looking worried about his chances.

He was smiling.

"Come, Lee!" The boy spoke simply, once more adopting his signature stance, leaning forward with his arms splayed.

He was more than happy to accept his teammate's invitation, charging forwards with an almost inhuman speed. He caught Neji before he could properly raise his guard, delivering a kick into his chest, and sending the boy spiraling backwards along the ground.

A part of him, that considered Neji a good friend, and didn't really want to hurt him, told Lee to give him a second to stand.

The rest of him kept charging, flying over the boy and preparing to rain a blow down from above, but his leg was intercepted, The Hyuga on the ground smirking as the two grappled for just a moment, ending with Lee being thrown off, landing a few feet away.

"That all you have, Lee?" His opponent taunted, taking his stance once again, though with a minor adjustment, this time, he bent his right hand forward, better for intercepting frontward blows.

But Lee didn't miss the small amount of blood that dripped out from the boy's nose, even if the Hyuga tried to catch it before he could.

He zigzagged forward, trying to throw Neji off as he got into his range, and had to back away as the Hyuga brought forth one of his most deadly attacks, the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.

He narrowly evaded the technique, letting the boy's palms sail over his head as he ducked under them, but now found himself on the back-foot, dodging blow after blow as the boy came at him.

_So even with the first gate, we're still evenly matched? _Lee pondered, taking the time to think as the two finally came to a standstill, circling one another as they both came up with new plans. _I suppose the next gate…_

_No…_

_The Third gate… I'll surprise him with its power and use that to claim victory._

Lee focused hard on trying to disguise the effort of opening another gate, even as he breathed heavily and forced his energy to travel down his spine, past the second gate, and straight to the third.

He felt the telltale burning sensation along his spine that signaled the third gate's release just as Neji charged at him, apparently done coming up with a plan.

It wouldn't matter, Lee had him.

"The Third Gate of Life… Release!"

He didn't miss the way Neji's eye's widened, trying to backpedal out of Lee's effective range, but both boy's knew that it was already too late.

"I've got you!"

He rocketed forwards, his fists moving through the air at a speed that was almost unforeseen at a Genin level, and he couldn't help but wince slightly as he felt his friends flesh give beneath his blows.

Neji shot backwards, but Lee knew he couldn't stop, couldn't rest, until his opponent could no longer move. The Hyuga was simply too talented to underestimate.

He practically slid across the floor as his leg's moved faster than they should've been able to. The gates allowed him to surpass his body's limitations, but that did come at a price. He knew that if he didn't end this fight within the next minute or two, then the pain would eat him alive.

Still, as he looked towards his teammate, seeing the boy's eyes glazed over, he couldn't help but feel that the Hyuga wouldn't be able to fight him anymore. The boy took an incredibly loose stance, and it seemed like he knew he had lost, for he grit his teeth in annoyance.

_Let's do this…_

"I'm ending this, Neji!" He shouted as he jumped over his opponent, preparing to finally break out his Lotus, now that he was sure the boy was too out of it to counter him.

Or he should've been, but Lee noticed too late that the Hyuga's eye's were sharper than they should've been, conveying not that he was out of the match, but that he was merely pretending to be.

He was already riding the air, though, and that meant he had no choice but to engage his opponent, choosing to flip behind Neji, in an effort to surprise him. He'd been attacking purely from the front for their entire fight, and he hoped that by finally attacking from behind, the boy would be caught off guard.

Pain shot up his back, and it all came from a small, almost pinpoint strike by Neji's fingers.

It was aimed directly at the Third Gate, the midpoint of his spine.

His attack stopped, and he froze in place there, just in front of the boy, as his entire body seemed to cease to function for just a moment.

_Move___…_ Move!_

He recovered a moment later, but by then, he'd already been standing still for half a second.

And that had been all his opponent needed.

"Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"

"Two Palms!"

He was bombarded by two strikes, hitting his back and his arm, respectively. He just managed to turn towards the blows as the next volley began, the shock from having the Third Gate's energy cut wearing off just in time for him to get his arms up, but he wondered if it would be enough.

"Four Palms!"

He managed to take those on his arms, blocking each one individually, and hunkering down for the remaining 58 Palms, hoping that he could block them all.

"Eight Palms!"

One got through, a hit directly to his left shoulder, as Neji struck out from around his guard, like a serpent.

"Sixteen Palms!"

Three more through his guard, hitting his stomach, chest, and one to his collarbone, which he was fairly certain broke from the impact.

"Thirty-Two Palms!"

Now his guard was practically nonexistent, and he took most of the blows from the jutsu, most hitting his chest and stomach.

"Sixty-Four Palms!"

He was knocked backwards from Neji's final attack, landing on the ground a way's away from him, and finding himself unable to move.

The Hyuga's exasperated breaths were the only thing he could hear, as the people above them, those watching, had all gone completely silent.

"Heh…" The boy walked over to stand above him, just where Lee could see him out of the corner of his eye. "Guess that's that, Lee. Hard work alone cannot defeat destiny."

Neji turned around, and this time, spoke to the proctor.

"He won't be moving again for a few hours, probably best to call the match now."

Something in the boy's words caused him to stir. He could feel the pain catching up to him, now that he wasn't moving anymore. His arms and legs felt like jelly, his core, which had been bombarded by Neji's gentle fist, felt like it was crumbling into pieces, and his Gate's had been deactivated manually from a hit to his spine, which was constantly shooting pain up his body.

And yet even so, he reached his hand out, putting his weight on it, and did his very best to stand.

/-/

Something was wrong, That, at least, Neji could tell.

It wasn't just that the proctor made no moves to end the match, but that the audience above them, who had gone silent after he'd taken down his teammate, were now stirring once more.

He felt a white hot anger nearly overtake him as he turned around, and found his opponent trying his absolute hardest to stand.

"W-what the hell…?" His voice came out without him realizing it. he couldn't help it, he knew, **knew**, that the boy should've been out after that. His Lotus' would be ineffective against him, his previous weights had been tossed aside, the speed he'd gained hadn't been enough to match him, and even his precious gates had been closed off, sealed by Neji's chakra.

_So how the hell can he still move!?_

He tried to advance towards Lee, tried to prevent the boy from rising, but found his legs nearly giving out on him as he walked, falling to his knees as he did.

In his gambit to deactivate Lee's gates, he'd put himself in the firing line, knowing that he'd take some hits from the bowl-cutted ninja, yet thinking that he'd be able to withstand them easily. But his teammate had hit far harder than he'd though him capable of, and he was paying for his own hubris now.

He felt a voice in the back of his head scream that this was all wrong, that Lee couldn't stand, that destiny wouldn't allow him to stand, and yet, even still, the boy's body wouldn't stop rising.

"I shut down your gates!" He screamed out, feeling fury course into his voice as he too rose, ignoring the sharp pain that coursed through him. "I flooded your internal systems with my chakra! You shouldn't be able to move, let alone stand! So how the hell are you!?"

Neji tried to contain his anger as the boy across from him actually smirked, his eyes barely opened as he seemed to fade from in and out of consciousness.

"Because you said I couldn't."

He gritted his teeth, feeling his rage trying to best him.

"Out of spite!? You'd do all of that, just out of spite!?"

"Of course not." Lee spoke simply as he brought his hand up before him in his usual stance. It was looser than usual, and his arms shook from exhaustion, but the look on his face told Neji that the boy wouldn't let it fall. "I'm doing this to prove something to everyone, to prove something to you, but above all else, to prove something to myself."

Neji took a step forward, trying to adopt his stance by leaning forward, but his ribs screamed at him as he tried, and so he adopted a move normal Hyuga stance, one hand in front of him, the other directly next to his breast, acting as a second line of defense.

"Hard work beats talent, unless talent works hard."

It was the same spiel as always. The same thing Guy Sensei told them all whenever they would spar, the same thing his star pupil would parrot back at him every single time he said it, and it was the last straw for Neji's patience.

"You think hard work can overcome destiny!?" He screamed as he charged in, raining blow after blow on the boy. "You think you can defeat fate with effort alone!?"

Every single one of his strikes was blocked by Lee, this time not with his arms, but with his hands, literally meeting him blow for blow.

"Isn't that what you think as well!?"

This time, Lee struck him, sending him flying backwards. As he landed, he pivoted, just barely managing to stay standing as the boy charged back at him.

"I've seen you training in the forest, Neji!" His teammate was shouting, a rarity for the bowl-cut bearing boy, but that wasn't what shocked the Hyuga the most.

"You… No one was supposed to know about that!" He shouted, sneaking a two fingered assault into Lee's ribs, making the boy cough up a small amount of blood as he backpedaled. "How did you figure it out!?"

"You can't hide from us, Neji!" Lee screamed out, and the voice reverberated on the walls above them. "I said that hard work beats talent, but that was unless talent works hard as well!" Lee took a stance, this time, his eyes were clear, any and all doubt gone. "Even you are trying to change your own so-called fate, aren't you!?"

His eyes widened at his teammate's words.

_…Am I?_

He'd been training, secretly, every single day since he'd become a Genin. He pretended to slack off, pretended to believe himself so far above everyone else, and yet he couldn't help but cry out in anger and rage as his efforts still didn't bear any fruit in the one field he wanted them to.

They still couldn't change the Hyuga.

"So what!? I can't change that accursed clan!" His anger was carrying through to his voice, spittle flying in all directions as he screamed to the world, and once more he met Lee in the center of the arena, strong fist colliding with gentle fist. "I'll never be able to change them, and I know that now! I was an idiot before, thinking I could-"

"You still think you can!"

A fist connected with the side of his face, and his vision distorted, even as he tried to block the next few blows.

"W-what!?"

"You never gave up, and you shouldn't!" Lee argued, pushing into his guard, and delivering a quick 1-2 that knocked Neji completely off balance, sending him to the floor. "You can change the Hyuga clan! And you will! You can't tell me that you trained day in and day out, through rain or shine, all because you thought that destiny bound you!"

_Is Lee… encouraging me?_

He blocked the blow aiming to finish him off, the same kick that Lee had already aimed for twice now, and then blocked the follow-up to that as well, spinning the boy around him and throwing him a foot or so away.

"There's no shame for me, losing here, not to someone who I know for a fact is trying just as hard as I am." Lee spoke simply, smiling, even with the blood that streamed out of his now broken nose. "But even still, Neji, I will not lose this duel."

A small laugh broke from him, even as he tried to hold it in. it was useless, however, and a second later, he found himself cracking up, giggling like some schoolgirl as he took his own stance, preparing to face his teammate in one final exchange.

"Neither will I."

They both charged forwards, preparing their best blows for combat.

"Eight Trigrams…"

"Primary…"

"Sixty Four Palms!"

"Lotus!"

He fired blow after blow into Lee, even as the boy's bandages covered him, and they soared into the air. He was able to open his palm over the bowl-cut bearing ninja's stomach and shot chakra directly into it in an effort to disrupt his internal organs.

Lee coughed up blood, but didn't cease, bringing them both crashing into the floor as smoke billowed around them.

Neji had been grabbed by the Primary Lotus before, and he knew the way around it was to shield his neck at all costs. It still hurt, oh boy, did it hurt, but it didn't take him out of the fight completely.

And yet, it seemed the built-up damage from their previous exchanges just might.

Even as he tried to rise, to meet his teammate once more in combat, he found his legs unresponsive.

Though it seemed like the boy across from him was much the same.

He collapsed onto the floor, feeling his consciousness fading as he smiled widely, feeling just a small bit of his curse's weight subside as he saw Lee's eyes closing, the strong fist user losing out to his own exhaustion.

_So hard work really can contest destiny, huh?_

_…That seems fair._

He lost consciousness a second later.

/-/

Ino watched the proctor walk over to the two boys in the arena, examine them both, and then raise his hands in the air.

"Both fighters are unable to continue, thusly, this match concludes in a draw."

"A draw…?" She questioned, looking behind her, where her teammates Shikamaru and Choji stood, but also where their sensei, Asuma, was watching the match with vague interest. "What happens when there's a draw, Teacher?"

"Both fighters get eliminated." He spoke simply, taking a small puff of his cigarette, and then shaking off the chaff onto the ground. "And the bracket for the next stage gets a helluva' lot more confusing."

"I guess that's the only option." Shikamaru spoke simply, shrugging. "Can't really let them both go on, or else you'd have everyone trying to make deals with their opponents to move into the next round for free."

"That sounds like something you'd do, Shikamaru." Choji joked, elbowing his friend in the side.

The boy in question closed his eyes, leaned back against the wall behind him, and smiled lazily.

"Yeah, I probably would."

"Next fight's up soon." Asuma said casually, gesturing with his elbow towards the screen on the back wall, which was now cycling through names. "Pretty good chance one of you all's going up as well, so pay attention."

Ino waited with bated breath, hoping that she wouldn't get picked, and then also kind of hoping she would. It would be nice to simply be done with this and not have to worry about it.

When the screen stopped, she groaned loudly.

**_Ino Yamanaka vs. Gaara_**

"Welp, everyone, I'd like it to go on record I gave the exam my best effort." Ino sighed out, looking up towards her Sensei with narrowed eyes. "Am I allowed to forfeit now?"

The man looked down on her with a small smile.

"At least try and fight him, please?"

"B-but he's scary! Haven't you seen him! Team 8 told us that he killed a few kids in the forest!"

Asuma stroked his beard, seeming a bit concerned, but not overly so.

"Alright, how about this, go down there and give it your best. If you feel like you're outmatched, just concede." Asuma's eyes got a little darker all of a sudden, and he took another puff of his cigarette. "If the boy threatens you in any way, I'll go down there and back you up. Sound good?"

That did help her to relax a bit, and she breathed out a lot of her nerves in the next few seconds.

"Y-yeah. That sounds good, Sensei."

The man smiled down at her.

"Good, now go get em'!"

She turned back towards the arena to see the kid named Gaara literally materialize into the arena, having turned himself into sand.

"Sensei I give up!"

"At least try!"

"He turned into sand!"

"I'm sure a lot of people can do that!"

"I'm sure you're full of bullshit, Sensei!"

"Ahem." The proctor just before her cleared his throat, causing her to jump as she turned to look at him. "If you're finished…"

"Oh, yeah, right."

"Very well, I'll go over the rules for this competition." The man turned back towards the center arena, and began to tell them about how lethal force was authorized, but not recommended. He went over a few things, but really, Ino couldn't help but worry about what the hell the boy in front of her was about.

"Are you both ready?"

Gaara merely nodded, whereas she gave a semi-enthusiastic "Sure."

"Then, let the Third Match of the Chuunin Exams second round… BEGIN!"

"Alright!" She decided to go all out from the start, bringing her hands up in front of her in their clan's signature sign. "Mind Body Switch Technique!"

_Welp, this probably won't work, but at least after it fails I can concede with gr-_

Suddenly, she found herself in the red-headed boy's mind, looking over at her own body.

_Wait… did that actually work?_

_Huh, guess this guys a pushover then._

**_"Oi." _**A terrible voice called out from all around her, echoing in the expanses of the boy's mind._**"Who the hell are you?"**_

She turned around, shaking slightly as she did, and found her eyes widening at what she saw.

It was a massive beast, perhaps 100 feet tall on it's own, and it looked to Ino to be made of sand. It had blue etchings running down it's entire body in odd patterns, and it's eyes were terrifying, glowing an ominous yellow in the darkest recesses of Gaara's mind.

She screamed as she released her hold on the boy, and flew back to her own body, stumbling carelessly as she tried to get away. She fell backwards onto her butt, panting as she tried to get over what she'd seen.

A second later, the boy across from her, confusion written all over his face, narrowed his eyes, and brought his hand up before him, looking ready to attack.

Ino's own hand flew up before he could.

"I surrender!"

Across from her, Gaara's eyes widened slightly, as did those of the proctors, who walked over to her.

"You are yielding?"

"Y-yes sir!"

The man seemed to consider her for a second, before shrugging, and calling the match.

"Ino Yamanaka has yielded, the winner is Gaara."

Everyone above them seemed a bit confused, and honestly, Ino couldn't find it in herself to blame them for that. To them, it probably seemed like she had the advantage, and then suddenly conceded the match. But she'd seen it, the monster inside of that boy, and she'd known she wanted nothing to do with it.

"You… surrender?"

The voice was almost tiny, what with how quiet it was, though Ino still caught it. She turned back towards the red-haired boy who'd spoken, looking almost confused.

_How do I answer this…?_

"Ah… yeah, sorry." Ino rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "You were probably looking forward to a match, but I'm not really all that-"

"INO!"

The voice shocked her into action, and she ducked just underneath an almost sharp pile of sand as it blazed past where her head had been just moments ago. She stumbled backwards, looking back over at the boy who'd attacked her, but found him standing ramrod straight, a knife at his throat already.

"She surrendered, kid." Asuma spoke, his cigarette still in his other hand as he let Gaara go, shoving him back towards his own staircase. "That means it's over. Get back to your team."

The red-head turned back around, eyes hard as he stared up at her teacher's face.

"Why do you care? If she surrendered, then she forfeited her life, didn't she?" The boy brought his hands together, and the sand from before seemed to grow almost agitated, writhing on the floor as it was pulled back into the boy's gourd. "I should be able to do whatever I want to her, she gave up."

"Yeah, well, her teammates aren't giving up on her." Asuma spoke, crossing his arms as he looked at the boy with a deadpan expression. "So, run along now, before I do something we'll both regret."

Gaara seemed about ready to protest even that, but for a hand on his shoulder. It was his own Jonin Sensei, a man who wore a cloth over half of his face.

"I apologize." The man spoke, not sounding very sorry. "Please excuse his actions. Come, Gaara."

The boy in question looked up at his teacher, scowled, but nodded. The two ascended the stairway, Gaara in front, with his teacher in the back.

"I'm sorry, Ino." Asuma spoke, eyes narrowed as he kept watch of those two. "I should've listened to you when you said you wanted to drop out. That kid was more dangerous than I thought he'd be."

"He was… yeah…" Ino spoke quietly, still in shock from when she'd narrowly dodged that sand attack earlier. It had been coming at her quick enough that it might have dug into her had it landed, and then…

She shivered, trying her best not to think about it.

But still, she couldn't help but wonder…

Just what the hell was that monster inside that boy's head?

**End Chapter 18**

* * *

**Well, I'm sure that will have no repercussions.**

**Gaara was a little shit when he was first introduced, and even if I like him now, that doesn't make him a better person at the time of the Chuunin exams.**

**Probably about 2 weeks to the Hiatus, but I will say that since Fire Emblem: Three Houses comes out this week, next week's chapter might be... stunted.**

**Anyways, that's all for me, see you all next week!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Yo!**

**Not a lot to say about this chapter, though I would like to take a second to explain my personal opinions on Neji as a fighter, and where I feel he stands in terms of power, because I feel like a lot of people underrate him.**

**Neji has 2 big fights in part 1: His fight against Hinata, and his fight against Naruto. He beats Hinata without suffering a single wound, but I think that the fact that he loses to Naruto is used to assume that he's much weaker than people say he is. Lee calls him the strongest Genin, after all.**

**Despite this, I think Lee's wrong. Lee is actually stronger than Neji, but not by as much as people give him credit for. I think the Gaara fight is often overblown, and that Lee isn't that much stronger than a lot of the other fighters. I mean, Lee beats Sasuke handily at the start of the Chuunin Exams, Loses to Gaara, and then Sasuke, after gaining the curse mark and Chidori, is able to suddenly fight Gaara evenly, up until his transformation into Shukaku, at which point, practically any Genin other than Naruto would lose to him. (Hell, most Jonin would)**

**But Naruto is able to beat Gaara, though, and I feel like this gets undersold a lot. Neji losing to Naruto is a big deal, but like, pretty much everyone would've lost to Naruto, except for specific match-ups. I think Naruto beats every Genin in the series at that point, with the exception of Lee, because of a stylistic difference, and maybe Sasuke (Without Gamabunta)**

**Basically, Neji's accomplishments are underrated, Lee's are overrated, despite all of that, Lee's still stronger than Neji, but Neji had a plan going in, and was just a bit smarter than his opponent, which let him scrape away with a draw.**

**Alright, I'll step off of my soapbox now. I didn't actually get many complaints about the fight, and even the one's I did get were simply people outlining their reasoning's behind why they think the fight should've gone Lee's way, so thanks for being cordial!**

**Without further ado, shan't we begin?**

* * *

**Chapter 19: A Quiet "Thank You."  
**

* * *

"Alright, Miss Kidnapper-Lady-"

"I resent that."

"Good for you." Sakura hissed out. "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, what the hell is it we're doing?"

Anko had taken her through numerous rooms and hallways in the large tower that housed the Chuunin Exam's Second Test, until they'd finally arrived in a room that looked a bit like the arena they'd previously occupied. It was smaller, much smaller, but it was rather well lit, and would easily accommodate mock battles, which she assumed was the space's purpose.

"We're sparring?" The woman answered, looking at Sakura as if she were stupid. "What else would we be doing?"

Sakura tried to internalize the annoyance she was feeling but, judging by the deep sigh that poured out of her a moment later, she was fairly sure it hadn't worked.

"Alright, fine, what am I doing."

Anko looked around the room, her hand massaging the tip of her chin as she seemed to ponder something. She pulled a kunai out of her bag and sat down, bringing the sharp edge down onto the cold stone floor beneath them, carving a shallow circle around her.

"OK," The woman stood back up, stretching as she continued to speak. "You can do whatever you want to me. Try and stab me to death, or throw bombs at me, or use whatever Jutsu you want, but your only real goal is to knock me out of this circle."

Sakura was just a tad confused as to the point of this.

"You're not… going to teach me anything?"

Her new mentor stared back at her, a stick of dango in her mouth, already looking a bit bored.

"Wasn't planning on it, no."

"Then… what's the point of this?"

"Oh, right," Anko pulled the now empty stick out of her mouth, taking a small moment to chew, and then spoke up again. "I just wanted to see your curse mark once you get all freaked out and angry, I'm not actually expecting you to beat me."

Sakura felt the small bubble of annoyance, the one she'd been keeping down ever since this woman had pulled her away from her friends, begin to fester. She felt a real, palpable rage as the woman laughed at her, even if she knew that was just what her new mentor wanted.

The woman snickered under her breath.

"I'm honestly not even expecting you to hit me, so don't worry about-"

A torrent of water connected with Anko's body, drenching her from head to toe. She sat in what seemed to be mortification for a moment, before looking back up at Sakura, who was doing her best to avoid showing the joy she currently felt on her face.

"W-what was that you said," Sakura asked, trying not to break out into giggles as her smile grew to shit-eating proportions. "About not hitting you?"

Anko's expression grew dark, and just for a moment, she thought she might have pissed the woman off, but a second later, her new teacher laughed, arching backwards and holding herself up with her arms.

"Oh, Sakura…"

The woman's expression grew almost feral as she stepped outside of her makeshift circle, drawing her weapon in front of her, and disregarding the rules she'd previously set.

"I think I'm going to like you."

/-/

"So… is anyone gonna' talk about Sakura, or…?"

"Nah," Zabuza's attention never left the arena below them, even as he yawned, using the back of his hand to cover his bandaged mouth. "She'll be fine."

"You sound awfully sure of that…" Sasuke spoke from beside Naruto, his eyes narrowed in minor annoyance.

"Yeah, well, that woman _did _have a missive from the Hokage. We can say whatever we want, but that old man wanted that her training Sakura, so we don't have a choice."

Naruto couldn't help but feel like that was just a bit unfair but decided to keep those thoughts to himself as he looked around, trying to find their leaders shadow around the arena.

"Hey, Zabuza?" Naruto asked, turning back to look at his stand-in teacher. "I thought you would've brought Haku with you, where's he at?"

"Ah, that brat?" The assassin hissed out, annoyance making it's way into his tone. "He's over there, enjoying the spoils of war."

Naruto followed the man's finger, over to where Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino, along with their Sensei, were standing along the opposite balcony to them. Upon second inspection, he noticed that there was another figure standing just beside the blonde girl of the group, making idle conversation with her.

"'Someone's gotta' comfort her after her loss,' he said, 'I guess I'll have to go and talk with her!' he said." Zabuza growled under his breath, accidentally bending the iron bar supporting his weight. "Damned idiot doesn't see that his puppy crush is the most obvious thing in all of Shinobi history."

Sasuke coughed, and then, when Zabuza turned to look at him with a deadpan expression, he began to whistle.

"Don't think I haven't been noticing the looks you've been giving your girl either." Zabuza sighed, massaging his face with his hands. "I'm happy to know that I, at least, was never this bad."

"What!?" Sasuke spoke up, a small blush on his cheeks as he spat out denials. After a second, the boy seemed to become fed up with Zabuza's accusations. "What the… I'm sure you were just as much of an 'idiot' as all the rest of us are!"

Zabuza chuckled, looking back towards Sasuke with an eyebrow raised.

"I doubt it."

"Why's that?"

"I literally killed everyone I went to school with." Zabuza outlined in a bored tone. "Couldn't really fall for a corpse, now could I?"

There was a moment of silence as both Sasuke and Naruto remembered the man's story, before Sasuke spoke a second or two later with a quiet "Oh."

"Now quiet, next match."

Naruto tried his very best to forget about Zabuza's murder-filled past, turning towards the screen and silently hoping he'd be chosen. He'd been sitting around on this balcony doing nothing at all for far too long!

When the screen came to a stop, Naruto jumped up, raised his fist in the air, and gave a mighty whoop.

**_Temari vs. Naruto Uzumaki_**

"Finally!" He exclaimed, finding himself a bit short of breath as he ran towards the stairs, taking them two at a time in his rush to get to the center of the arena. "Finally, I get to fight!"

By the time he made it down, which was maybe 15 seconds later, his opponent was already there. She was a blonde girl a few years older than him, wearing a fairly simple dress and what seemed to be a fishnet under-outfit, which Naruto couldn't help but think mustn't have covered much.

She also wore a giant metal object across her back, although judging from how one of her hands was resting upon it, Naruto couldn't help but think she would draw the instrument the moment their fight began.

The proctor talked to them about the rules of their fight, going over the same things he had with everyone else, but Naruto had been listening to him during Sakura's fight, concerned for his friend, and had already heard it all.

He instead chose to use that time devising a strategy from what he could see of the girl in front of him.

_Well, to start, she's going to be using that thing on her back for something, or else she wouldn't be lugging it around. _Naruto concluded fairly obviously, scratching his chin. _The problem is that it could be anything, but I won't really know until the fight starts._

It aggravated him to no end that no amount of thinking, something he'd resolved to use to try and be a better fighter, would actually help him this time around.

_Fine, fine… I guess I'll have to adapt on the fly._

Naruto smirked, taking a stance as the proctor asked the two if they were ready. He drew a kunai from his pouch and prepared to summon a few shadow clones as soon as the fight started.

If there was one thing Naruto knew he was good at, it was bullshitting his way out of difficult situations. He was fairly confident he'd be fine.

"Then let the Fourth Match of the Chuunin Exam's Second round… BEGIN!"

Naruto raised his hands into the shadow clone almost immediately, allowing 4 clones to pop up around him, and had them all immediately charge forward, just to get a read on what he'd be dealing with.

His eyes widened when, a second later, every single one of them was banished in a single swing of the girl's weapon, which turned out to be a massive fan. The winds it blew across the arena even buffeted him back, despite him being a good 20 feet away.

_Well… That's interesting. _Naruto thought to himself, already running small scenario's in his head for what he should do about this new development. _Not good, of course._

_But interesting._

He wasn't surprised when the girl took a few steps back, creating distance between the two of them with a small smile on her face all the while.

_Alright, idea #1: This girl's a long-range fighter, and she doesn't want to get close._

_Let's test it._

He took a step forward and felt a small sense of satisfaction as the girl mirrored his action, stepping back with the same foot. She was retaining the distance between them.

_So, idea #1 proven. Idea #2: if I get close to her, I can win a close-range fight._

That one was a little iffier, but Naruto felt like it was his safest bet at present.

His opponent shot off a large gust his way, and he couldn't even try to dodge with how big it was. He instead chose to put his hands in front of his face, and take the blast on his arms. He was rewarded with slices down his sleeves, as the sharp winds bit and tore into his clothes, and, more worryingly, his flesh.

When he lowered his arms, he couldn't help but notice that the girl rested the fan behind her, smirking to herself in satisfaction. A small idea began to form in the back of his mind.

_Alright, so… Sasuke says to analyze anything that seems weird, so… why wouldn't she just keep bombarding me with that wind? _Naruto couldn't help but wonder as he sent out another few shadow clones, just to buy him time to think. _I mean, even if it takes an immense amount of chakra, I'm still going to be down after 6 or 7 of those._

Naruto kept his train of thought going as he narrowly dodged out of the way of the slicing gale, and then ducked underneath a kunai the girl threw at him a second later, which only served to further his thought process.

_Ok, so a kunai is obviously inferior to a blast from her fan, so that leads me to only one conclusion… _

_She can't use that fan attack continuously. _

He looked back to her, as she drew the fan along her back and seemed to sit idle for a moment, an idea came to him.

_Is she charging it?_

It made sense, after all, if after every single blow she seemed to hesitate to follow up, then that could only mean she needed the time to charge for another strike.

He decided to bank on this theory, and instead of backing off when she dispersed the next set of clones, he charged in.

The girl's eyes widened for just a moment, before, in a move that caught him off guard, she swung her fan at him a second time.

_What!? But I thought – _

It was too late to dodge, and it was going to hit him dead center. Naruto could do nothing but raise his arms as he was knocked backwards, landing several feet away and rolling pitifully to a stop. He rose immediately, not wanting to be declared unfit to continue, but found his legs weak as he did.

He looked down at them, and found himself bleeding from several cuts all over his body.

_Feeling a bit… woozy as well… _

He could vaguely remember Iruka Sensei telling him that was bad.

Like… really bad.

"Hmph." The girl across from him had a cocky smile on her face, her fan drawn back across her back with a victorious expression adorning her features. "Honestly, if that's all you can do, then please spare us all the effort and just concede already, I'm getting bored."

His anger flared up, and he could feel, with a small sense of relief, a few of the cuts around his body start to heal themselves as a minuscule amount of the Nine-Tails chakra coursed through him.

He knew that he should analyze the situation calmly, think carefully about his next move, and execute on a plan. That was what Sasuke had taught him, and at this point, he knew that the boy was right far more often than not.

But the anger boiling inside him told him to summon a few dozen shadow clones, grit his teeth, and punch that girl square in the jaw!

And that was just what he'd do.

"Talk down to me!" Naruto brought his hands up in front of him, but before he could use a good half his chakra on a veritable army of shadow clones, a shouting voice called out to him.

"Idiot! Don't fall for it!"

He turned back around, a bit dumbfounded, and looked up towards Sasuke, who was breathing heavy, sweat dripping down his face as he called out with all his might.

"You're angry, Right!? Well use it!" The boy held his fist out, smiling widely. "Prove you're stronger!"

_Use my anger? …What the hell is that supposed to mean._

_Wait… could he mean…_

He smirked, before letting his hands fall back to his sides, abandoning the army of shadow clones he'd been about to summon, and instead raised his fist up to mirror his friends.

"Will do, Sasuke!"

The Uchiha gave him one last encouraging smile, before Naruto turned back around, cracking his knuckles, and beginning to circle the girl in the center of the arena.

_I get it, Sasuke, you're saying that she's trying to get me riled up, so she can use my anger against me. _Naruto nodded sagely, feeling proud that he was able to decipher his friends code. _You didn't want to shout it out, though, because if she understood she'd been found out, then she'd abandon her strategy._

Naruto smirked, nodding.

_Right. If I were to use 50 shadow clones, they'd just dissipate the moment the girl hit them with a single strike. But…_

_What if I were to use that same amount of chakra on one, single shadow clone?_

He'd tried it before, just the once, when he'd been sparring with Sasuke. It hadn't been particularly useful, not against the boy's fireball jutsu, which had hit it straight on to the face, but Naruto had a theory that, against something less destructive, the clone would be able to take more than a single hit before dissipating.

Especially against an attack as indirect as Temari's wind.

_Still, there's no way I'll know until I use it, and if I do, and it fails, that's half of my chakra down the drain._

But there was no way he was going to be Hokage one day without being willing to take some risks. He brought his hands up, focused hard upon the chakra that swirled within him, took a generous portion of it, and then said the words.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

A single, solitary puff of white smoke enveloped him, and, after it cleared, there was another copy of him to his left. His doppelganger looked towards him, smirked, and nodded.

The girl before him must've sensed something was up, because she took a few steps back, reached into her ninja tool bag, and drew forth a contraption Naruto knew quite well.

"Paper bomb!" He exclaimed, dodging to the right as his clone did to the left, avoiding the explosion that went off where he'd just been standing.

He looked back over towards the girl with a small grimace, but his eyes widened a second later as a massive squall came towards him, carrying pieces of the floor with it as it cut it's way across the arena.

"That's bad!" Was pretty much the only thing Naruto could vocalize before he was bombarded by blades of streaming wind. He did his very best to avoid taking any serious damage, but couldn't quite stop the cuts from adding up on his body, legs, arms, and chest.

He fell to the floor in a heap, the ground cracking around him as he did.

And yet, in a moment when his defeat was all but certain, an idea came to him. He kept his laughter to himself as he did, feeling the cuts on his body begin to patch themselves up.

The reason why his opponent swung her fan back across her back every time she attacked, even if she could keep the assault up, the reason she only brought out her paper bombs after he'd shown prowess, and the reason she was, even now, still smirking to herself…

She was overconfident.

_She thinks she's so much better than me… I wonder… This'll be a gamble, but if it works…_

He brought his hands in front of him and used his specialty, even as a devilish grin spread across his face.

"Transform!"

/-/

Temari was feeling pretty good about her odds of winning as the boy's clone burst into white smoke, having been as easily dealt with as everything else he'd thrown at her. Her teacher had told her that something odd was up with him, and to not underestimate him, just in case, but just like with all of her other opponents, she'd had no trouble in dispatching him.

She'd done her best to reign in her overconfidence, preventing it from dictating the state of the match, as it had a tendency to do, but she couldn't help but gloat as she walked over to her opponents real body, laughing all the while.

"Welp, nice try I suppose. The shadow clones surprised me, but it wasn't ever going to be enough."

She heard movement on her left, and turned with her weapon drawn to meet it, expecting a trick from her opponent, but found only the exam's proctor, standing there with an odd smile that didn't at all match his features.

She took a breath, letting the last of her worry flow out of her as she drew her fan closed, holding the large metal instrument towards her opponents face on the ground.

"Yield."

The boy turned to face her, looking up at her with a small smile. He drew his hands together, forming the sign for the shadow clone, but Temari was faster, easily knocking his hands apart with the end of her fan, and then bashing his face with it, causing the back of his head to collide with the stone floor.

It was a bit cruel, but she couldn't mind that. They were going to destroy this entire village, after all. If she couldn't deal with hurting one little boy, she'd never be able to fulfill her duty.

"Perhaps you didn't hear me." She spoke again, bringing the fan down once again to rest near his face. "Yield."

The boy below her sighed, but put his hands beside his head.

"I yield."

She sighed in relief, pulling back as she stood fully, and walked back towards the proctor, waiting for him to call the match.

As one second turned to two, then three, she felt a bit of unease work its way into her mind.

"Excuse me, sir," She tried to be as polite as possible, assuming that this was perhaps a home bias towards Leaf genin, and that maybe, by endearing herself to this man, he would allow her the victory she'd earned. "Naruto Uzumaki has surrendered. Wouldn't you please call the match?"

"Naruto Uzumaki has not surrendered." The man spoke calmly, coughing a second later. "Thusly, I cannot call this match over."

_He hasn't… What!?_

She turned back around, looking back towards where her opponent sat in a small crater, and found him still lying there. He was injured, and probably had a concussion. Standing only a few feet from her was the proctor, walking towards her at a lax speed, hands in his pockets.

She turned back around to the proctor, anger working it's way into her system.

"Look over there, don't you see him!" She complained, pointing back towards the boy in the floor. "He's down, and he surrendered!"

"Miss Temari, I'm sorry." The man before her gave just the tiniest fraction of a smile, like a small crescent the day after a new moon. "But the surrender of a clone does not count as a loss."

Her instincts flew as she swung around, drawing her weapon as fast as she could, but the clone in the hole was already dissipated. She backed away, looking around the arena.

_The hole where I banished that bastards clone, the place where I destroyed the other clone, the exam's proctor…_

_The exam's… proctor…_

Her eyes widened as she turned back around, where a second proctor stood, smiling lazily, as if this were all just the tiniest bit amusing.

She swung her weapon behind her with blinding speed, trying to catch the fake proctor with her weapon, but the man ducked underneath it, sending an uppercut straight to her jaw, which had her reeling as she was knocked backwards.

_Shit! Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!_

He'd tricked her by pretending to be destroyed before, but really, the white smoke hadn't been that of a shadow clone dissipating, but of a transformation jutsu being used!

He'd transformed into the exam's proctor, walked calmly towards her and into her worst range, and landed a solid hit!

_I have to summon my –_

Before she could even think about biting into her finger, she was knocked back, kicked straight in the stomach, and felt her breath leave her. She tried to recover, tried to raise her guard, but the boy was relentless, summoning more copies of himself and overwhelming her, until, with one last attack, he pushed her to the ground, drew a kunai, and held it to her throat.

"Yield!" The fake proctor spoke, eyes shining with mirth that shouldn't have been present on his face.

She growled under her breath, tried to think of any way out, but blanked. She sighed a second later, fell back on the stone floor beneath her, and admitted the truth.

"I lost."

/-/

Naruto shot up immediately, raising his hands above his head, and shouted in victory.

"I won!" He ran around in circles, hollering and whooping, and generally feeling like he as on top of the world. "I won, I won, I won!"

Someone behind him cleared his throat, and Naruto turned around to see the exam proctor with a quiet smile on his face.

"We're all very happy for you, Naruto, but if you wouldn't mind…" The man actually blushed, though Naruto could clearly tell it was out of embarrassment. "Could you release your transformation jutsu? Watching myself do all of this is a bit odd."

Naruto looked down at his body to find that he was, in fact, still in his disguise. He smiled and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Y-yeah, sorry."

With a puff of white smoke, Naruto was suddenly two feet shorter, and more than a little tired. Transforming for a few seconds was rather easy, but keeping the illusion up for minutes at a time could be difficult.

It wouldn't have been for anyone else, and he'd heard stories of ninja's staying in disguise for weeks, but they didn't have to deal with a monster's chakra coursing through their veins at all times, constantly interrupting the flow of their own chakra as it did.

Having kept up the transformation for a few minutes was a thing to be proud of for Naruto, and he smiled remembering the look on the girl's face as she realized his trick.

_That'll teach her to get cocky! _He chuckled under his breath, starting to walk up the stairs to leave the arena, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"Excuse me, but shouldn't you go on ahead to the infirmary?" The proctor spoke, putting his hand back into his pocket. "Blood loss is not to be underestimated."

"Ah… about that…"

_How do I say 'well, the demon in my chest has already healed my wounds, so I'm totally fine.' Without actually saying that at all?_

"Don't worry about him, the demon in his chest already healed his wounds, so it's no biggie." Zabuza said as he walked down the steps, taking Naruto by the collar and dragging him up. "Thanks for looking out and all."

The proctor seemed rightfully stunned, but, a second later, seemed to come to the conclusion that this was all beyond his pay-grade, because he simply sighed, turned around, and began muttering to himself.

"So that's the Nine-Tails brat, huh?" Naruto thought he heard him say.

He turned back towards Kakashi's stand-in, with just a bit of indignant annoyance.

"Shouldn't you be keeping the whole Nine-Tails thing a secret!?"

The Demon of the Mist looked back down at him with a tiny sneer.

"Not from Jonin, kid. They already know about your existence already, and especially one's from the leaf." Zabuza shrugged. "No reason to keep it hidden from your allies, right?"

Naruto grumbled under his breath, but also couldn't really see a reason to refuse, so he stayed quiet for the most part as the man pulled him up the remaining flight of steps, only questioning why he was being dragged in the first place as he got to the top.

He was just about to complain about it when Sasuke stepped up next to him, looking equal parts proud and annoyed, which Naruto couldn't help but think was a bit funny.

"I thought you said you understood." His friend spoke evenly, not seeming terribly upset, but more confused.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked, feeling a bit of confusion himself, but realizing a second later what his friend must have meant. "Oh! You mean the plan, right? Yeah, thanks for that, you really helped me!"

"…But you didn't follow my idea at all."

"What?"

Sasuke tilted his head to the side, eyes narrowing as he leaned forward, as if trying to peer into Naruto's soul.

"I said to use your anger… and instead, you kept a level head, dealt with the situation intelligently, and persevered with a well-thought out plan." The boy's eyes narrowed even further, looking at him out of slits. "Completely unlike you."

Naruto couldn't help but blush a bit at the praise.

"W-well, you said to use my anger, and I realized that you were trying to send me a coded message!" Naruto nodded proudly, with a 'please praise me more!' look on his face. "You were trying to tell me to calm down, since she was using my anger, right?"

Sasuke sighed, massaged his head with his hands, but smiled a second later, laughing quietly all the while.

"I meant for you to use the Nine-Tails chakra." Sasuke explained, a residual smile still set upon his face. "After all, don't you need to be angry to reliably use it?"

Naruto honestly had no idea if there were any such restrictions on the Nine-Tail's chakra, but he could see how the boy might've figured that, given that his only experience with power-ups recently were when Sakura got mad and when he died.

It might've also had something to do with how Sasuke got his new three Tomoe Sharingan, through the rage of seeing his best friend fall before him.

_So… does he think the only way to gain power is to get angry?_

_…That's pretty edgy._

"Er… I don't know if that's how the Nine-Tails works, to be honest."

"Oh, Sorry, I didn't know."

"Nah, it's fine, like you said, your words still helped out."

Sasuke smirked, leaning against the metal bar in front of him as he gazed out over the arena.

"I wonder who'll be next."

"Well, it's random, so it could be any-"

"Excuse me, Naruto?"

The new voice had Naruto turning to his left, where, just beyond Sasuke, a small, blue-haired girl stood waiting, a tiny vile in her hands as she shook ever so slightly.

"Oh… Hinata?" He wondered what the girl was doing up here, and as he stepped around Sasuke, who walked over to stand with Zabuza, he asked her.

"Oh, I… wanted to give you this." The girl drew herself into an incredibly deep bow, holding out a small container of… something towards him. "F-for your wounds."

_'Actually, my wounds are already healed, thanks anyways.' _Felt like the logical thing to say, but Naruto couldn't help but feel like that would've been a little bit rude.

"It's a gift." The girl's sensei, who Naruto was fairly sure was named Kurenai, spoke up from behind her, smiling indulgently as she shook her head. "You should accept it, even if you have no need for it now. Keep it with you, just in case."

He nodded to the woman, more out of respect than anything else, and reached out for the vile. When his hand touched Hinata's as he took it, the girl flinched, and Naruto couldn't help but feel a bit bad about that, like he'd accidentally kicked a puppy.

"Thanks, Hinata." He tried to give his best smile, the one Sasuke told him once looked like the sun, but he couldn't help but think it came off a bit forced, not quite reaching his eyes. "I'll take care of it."

"A-ah!" The girl stuttered, putting her hands into the pockets of her jacket, and taking a step back. "D-don't worry about it, I'd… I'd rather you use it" She was playing with the strings on her jacket now, twirling them with her fingers in intricate little patterns that seemed to command Naruto's attention for whatever reason. "I… you don't need to take care of anything that I-"

The girl seemed to cut herself off, before, with a pale face, she took another bow, and went back off to join her team. Her sensei sighed as she watched the girl go, before turning to Naruto again with a small, sad smile.

"Thanks for that, Naruto. That girl… well, she doesn't have a lot of things that she likes doing, or people she likes to talk to." The woman's smile became a bit brighter, but it was like sunlight peaking out from behind storm clouds. "But I think you give her… Well, it's not my place to say anything else."

The woman stepped back, waving as she walked to stand behind her team.

"Good luck with the next stage of the exams."

He couldn't quite help the feeling that he was missing something as Sasuke stepped back to stand next to him, a quiet sadness playing across his features.

"Hinata Hyuga…" His friend spoke quietly. "I hear she was outed from her clan after her little sister defeated her in combat."

"I… didn't know that." The last bit of joy from his victory was snuffed out in the somber mood between the two of them, and as the minutes ticked by, and the arena floor was finally fixed, the room turned once again to see who would be fighting next.

When the roulette came to a stop, Naruto gasped quietly, looking back to the girl he'd been speaking to just a moment ago with no small amount of fear.

**_Misumi Tsurugi vs. Hinata Hyuga_**

For her part, Hinata didn't look nearly as terrified as he'd figured she would. She wasn't composed by any sense of the word, shaking slightly with nerves. She took careful steps towards the stairway, but the way she walked seemed almost fake, a bit too wooden, a bit too calm.

_'Do something.' A voice in his mind commanded._

_Do what? _He couldn't help but think. _I don't even know what I'm expected to say!_

_"But I think you give her… Well, it's not my place to say anything else." _He remembered Kurenai Sensei saying, as the woman walked back towards her own team.

_Give her what?_

And yet, as the girl began to descend the stairs, he realized he didn't have the time to think this one out.

And yet, even still, he called out to her.

"H-Hinata!"

The girl turned back to look at him, her face a bit pale, but a blush present upon her cheeks.

"Y-yes?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see all of the members of Hinata's team, Kiba, Shino, and most of all their Sensei, Kurenai, giving him approving nods as he stepped up in front of the girl, preparing to say his piece.

"Good luck out there," He held his hand out, giving her a thumbs up, and a smile that, this time, managed to reach his eyes. "I'll be rooting for you."

The girl before him gaped, her mouth hanging open for a few seconds, before, with a small squeak, she ran down the steps, taking them two at a time. When she made it to the halfway point, she stopped, and mumbled something that he just barely caught.

It was a quiet "Thank you."

**End Chapter 19**

* * *

**Aight.**

**Weeks to Hiatus: 0!**

**I know, I skipped a week, b****ut the move is catching up to me, and so I am afraid this story will be going on a quick, two or three week break. **

**Despite that, you should still expect a chapter by the second or third week of August, and if one's not out, spam the shit out of me, I've probably managed to forget to update this fic, because that sounds like something I'd do.**

**Welp, that's all from me, see you guys in a few weeks!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Yo. It's been a few weeks.**

**So I was originally going to put a chapter out last week, and then I was tired, and didn't really feel like it, so I ended up waiting.**

**It's here now, though, so hopefully that's good enough.**

**Yesterday was my birthday, actually. It was a small family gathering.**

**Nothing to report in regards to this story, other than that we probably only have 2 chapters left of fights before the real meat of the arc can begin, which is exciting, because frankly I'm getting tired of writing battles.**

* * *

**Chapter 20: Your Actions Were Your Own  
**

* * *

Hinata wasn't losing per se, but she wasn't exactly winning either. That much, at least, Naruto could tell for sure.

As the girl dealt with Misumi's stretching limbs with her gentle fist technique, he couldn't help mimicking the motions himself, as if _he _were the one fighting in the arena, thinking about and questioning each blow that Hinata went for.

"Ah, no!" he exclaimed after a particularly brutal one-two punch to the girl's chest, which sent her flying back a few feet. "You gotta' duck under that, not into it!"

"Gah!" Naruto's heart nearly skipped a beat as the girl parried a kunai that was aiming for her chest, managing to land a good palm strike onto her opponents chest in answer. "That was a close one!"

"Nice, Hinata!" He screamed out, leaning back and using both of his hands to form a megaphone as he shouted excitedly. As it turned out, however, he'd been using those very same hands to keep his balance against the railing, and he found himself screaming once again as he fell backwards, tripping onto the cold stone balcony that he and the rest of his team, sans Sakura, stood upon.

"_That_ looked like it hurt." Sasuke teased, smirking down at him.

"What're you smiling about!?" Naruto whined angrily from the floor, sitting up and rubbing the back of his head as he turned back towards the battle at hand, watching attentively as Hinata barely staved off her opponent.

"You, actually."

"Yeah, Ha-ha." Naruto deadpanned, not even bothering to look at his friend as he spoke. "I fell, how funny."

"Not that." Sasuke wore an amused expression, but also one that carry with it a small sense of pride. "It's just… cool to see how much you care about your friends."

If Naruto had been drinking anything, he was fairly sure he would've spat it out across the boy's face in comedic fashion.

"W-what!?" Naruto sputtered as a small blush came to his cheeks.

"First, during Sakura's fight, you were cheering so loud after she won that Zabuza smacked you, and now, when Hinata's fighting, you're getting into it. Dodging and weaving like you're the one fighting." Sasuke's smirk became teasing once again. "I just think you look funny."

He glared at his friend for a moment before deciding to not respond, leaning once more against the railing looking down on the arena below them as he checked in on Hinata's fight.

Once again, it was going so-so.

"She's mediocre." Sasuke spoke honestly as he took the spot to his right on the railing. "Not bad, just… Well, she's certainly not as strong as that Neji kid. He made the gentle fist look unbeatable. She's making it look… Okay."

Naruto didn't particularly want to agree with his friend's statement, but it was hard to argue looking at the girl's form. Like he'd said, it wasn't like it was incredibly poor, or really even all that bad.

But it was stiff, and it was clumsy, very far from the free-flowing style that her relative had demonstrated. Neji had gone from strike to strike, blow to blow, never once giving any time to respond, every movement given purpose. Hinata, in contrast, seemed to have to think about every motion, hesitating after nearly every hit, leading her to take far more hits than Neji had, even though he had faced down a far superior opponent in Lee.

It seemed, however, that Misumi's lack of skill would be his own downfall. Even though she was far less skilled than her cousin, she was still clearly superior to her opponent in the arena.

Naruto shouted out his support as the Hyuga landed a particularly devastating blow, her palm connecting directly with the man's chest, atop his heart. Even with a cloth over his mouth, the blood that Misumi coughed up was evident as a red stain.

"You've got this, Hinata!" Naruto called out, leaning forward over the railing. "He's almost down, finish him off!"

He watched a bit curiously as the girl's cheeks became a dark scarlet, and she fidgeted for just a moment as she brought her hands up before her, stepping into her opponents guard one final time as she delivered the final strike, sending Misumi, and his bendy limbs, to the floor.

"Yeah!" Naruto pumped his fist, jumping up and down excitedly, and nearly managing to plummet off of the balcony he was stood upon, only staying up thanks to Sasuke grabbing his collar, hauling him back up as he berated him for being an idiot.

Still, it didn't really hamper Naruto's mood at all. So far, Team 7 was 2-0, and, with most of the insane people were out of the competition, there was a large likelihood that Sasuke would be joining the three of them in the next round.

_Ah… I probably shouldn't have thought that. _Naruto realized, mentally berating himself. _Now Sasuke's gonna' lose._

"In the first place, you need to be more careful, and – Naruto are you even listening to me!?"

He looked up at his friend, who appeared to still be monologuing to him about the dangers of jumping near or around large falls.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke." He put his hands on the boy's shoulders, pretending to cry. "I've cursed you! Now you're going to get matched against some super powerful ninja, all because I had to open my big fat mouth!"

"The hell are you talking about!?" The boy pushed him away, a look of annoyed disgust on his face that Naruto knew he was faking. "You didn't say anything!"

"But I thought it, Sasuke!" He sobbed audibly, perhaps hamming it up just a bit too much. "I thought it!"

The boy sighed as he flicked him in the forehead, muttering under his breath about how he'd gotten stuck with Naruto of all people for a friend. Naruto himself merely laughed, poking, and prodding at the boy as Hinata was proclaimed the victor of her match, beginning to walk nervously back towards her team, a small smile set upon her face all the while.

By the time she made it back up the stairs, to the sounds of her teammates cheering, and Naruto's own, her cheeks looked like they could've powered the entire village.

"You did very well out there, Hinata." Her mentor Kurenai smiled as she reached down and gently ruffled the girl's sweat-matted hair. "You handled his aggression with poise and countered incredibly."

"T-thank you." The girl mumbled, rocking from side to side as she took their praise, seeming both bashful and hungry to receive more of it.

"Yeah!" Her other teammate, Kiba, shouted out, the dog on his head hanging on for dear life as he hopped up and down in excitement. "You really outdid yourself out there! That was awesome!"

"Indeed." Shino, her final teammate, spoke out quietly, leaning against the back wall in an extremely edgy fashion. "It's because you used your opponents greatest asset, his stretching limbs, as your method of attacking him, it's obvious to me that-"

"Oh!" Kiba interrupted, stepping in front of the bug user. "Once all of us win our rounds too, we should all go out for some meat later!"

"Ouch." Sasuke murmured.

"Yeah," Naruto agreed, silently wishing the man well. "Imagine cursing yourself that hard. Not even I was that bad."

As the conversation died down, the roulette once again began to turn, causing everyone in the room who had yet to fight to turn towards it, anticipation eating away at them all as they awaited their moment.

When it finally stopped, A confident snarl came forth from their resident beast master.

"Heh, took em' long enough."

**_Kiba Inazuka vs. Kankuro_**

/-/

"I hate you."

"Yeah, I would too if I sucked that bad."

Sakura growled from her crater in the floor of their makeshift arena, trying and failing to rise a final time to face this snake bitch once more in combat.

"Aw, what's the matter, out of steam?"

"I'm going to kill you."

Her teacher for all of an hour walked to stand beside her, gazing down at Sakura with a shit-eating grin that could've rivaled one of Naruto's.

"You're honestly welcome to try, I don't know about you, but I've been having a pretty good time." The woman had the nerve to yawn, stifling the noise into her hand as she looked around the arena. "Still, I thought your curse mark would've activated by now." Anko stared down at her, eyes narrowing. "You're not secretly holding back, are you?"

Sakura glared at the woman with murder in her eyes.

"Does it seem like I'm holding back?"

"I mean, honestly? Kinda, you certainly didn't impress me very much."

Sakura tried with every fiber of her being to stand, gritting her teeth with rage coursing through her, and felt a small prick on the back of her neck, like a needle. A second later, she felt almost entirely revitalized, only the lingering dregs of her exhaustion still hanging on her.

"Ah, there we go." Anko spoke, sighing with exhaustion. "I was wondering how long I'd have to berate you for before your curse mark flared up."

Sakura barely heard the woman, anger and rage course through her as she drew a kunai from her bag, spinning it on the tip of her finger and bringing it into a reverse grip. She charged at her mentor a second later, bringing the weapon up from a crouching stance.

The strike was batted aside with the back of Anko's hand, diverting the blade just to the left of her, impacting into her trench coat and cutting a deep hole as she jumped away.

"Tsk." Anko sounded annoyed, dodging two more of Sakura's blows as she fell back. "I really like this coat, you know!"

In an instant, Sakura found herself blown back, landing a few feet away as she skidded to a stop. As her head impacted against the stone floor below her, she felt the anger that had been clouding her mind abruptly vanish, replaced only with pain.

"Ow." She let out.

"Aw, c'mon, really?" Her teacher crouched down next to her, looking exhausted. "Are you seriously done already?"

"W-what are you talking about?" Her head felt cloudy, and she couldn't really remember the last 30 seconds all that well. She realized what must've happened a second later. "Oh… did I – did the curse mark activate?"

Anko sighed, but nodded, sitting on the floor beside her and offering Sakura a hand, nonchalantly lifting her off the ground without even straining.

"Well, for all of 5 seconds, yeah, but then just as soon as you had it, it was gone again."

"I guess… that must just be how it works." Sakura couldn't help but feel a small bit of relief, along with a twinge of disappointment. Her curse mark wouldn't be controlling her easily, not like it did in the forest of death.

She was safe.

_…That's what I want, right?_

"No."

She looked up, a bit shocked, to see her mentor removing her trench coat, and throwing it off to the side.

She also couldn't help but look at the woman's figure, which was now on almost complete display before her, and silently curse her for her biological luck. It was only a second later that she questioned why Anko would do such a thing in the first place.

"Uhm, Anko Sensei… what are you doing?"

The woman looked up at her, seeming a bit confused, before her visage cracked, and she giggled.

"Right, sorry, this probably seems weird."

The woman turned around, lifted her hair to show the back of her neck, and, a second later, a black mark pulsed into being.

"That's…!"

Anko let her hair fall back down and turned back to look at Sakura with a sad smile.

"Yeah, we're… a lot alike, you and I." Her mentor sighed, running a hand through her hair as she seemed to try and think. "Which is why I know that your curse mark shouldn't have gone away so quickly."

"Wait, what?"

Sakura couldn't help but be confused. She'd had no idea that curse mark even existed a few days ago, and now here she was, being lectured about what it was _supposed _to be like.

"A curse mark, from my experience, acts as an embodiment of negative emotions inside of someone." Anko rubbed the back of her neck, though from what Sakura could see as she sat down across from the woman, a foot or so apart, she hadn't truly meant to. "Whenever I want to use it… which isn't very often, mind you, I think about stuff like… the people I've failed, and the comrades I've lost."

"It appears pretty easily like that." The Jonin murmured under her breath.

Sakura felt a faint sadness lingering in her mentors words but refrained from asking about it. She decided that some things were better left unsaid.

"So… what do you think's wrong with my curse mark?"

"Oh, right," She seemed to snap out of her thoughts, looking back down at Sakura. "Don't get me wrong, nothing's bad about it." Anko put her hands up as if surrendering, faking a smile as she continued on. "If anything, I'd say it's far better for you, since it's not just going to be popping up willy-nilly. If I were to guess what's hindering it, though, I'd say that you just don't have an inner darkness."

"Huh?"

Sakura hated how she sounded like a broken record, constantly asking questions without anything to say for herself, but she needed to know about what the curse mark was, and how she could control it.

_After all, if I can harness it's power… maybe I can catch up to those two._

"Ok, so, super-simple? You've lived a super easy life." Anko gave her an apologetic look. "If I'm right, I'd say that you've got a mom and dad who are still together, and you've lived with them your whole life. You went to school on time every day, you made a couple good friendships, and the biggest problem you've ever encountered is school-yard bullying."

_That was… _

_Pretty spot-on, actually._

"How'd you get all that just from my curse mark not activating?"

Anko had the nerve to laugh.

"Cause that's pretty much the only way a kid grows up without much conflict to speak of." Anko shrugged, stood, and offered her hand out to Sakura. "C'mon, train while we talk."

Sakura thought that that sounded terrible, given that her legs still felt like jelly, and she was now nursing a killer headache, but the way the woman had said it made it seem less like a question and more like a command, so she took the outstretched hand before her, and let her new mentor pull her to her feet.

Sakura brought her kunai in front of her, fully expecting it to be knocked from her hand within moments, but determined to still try and win.

As she shot forward, Anko began to speak once more.

"So that begs the question," The woman spoke as she ducked underneath Sakura's strike, smacking her in the stomach with her palm and circling around her, even as she laid on the ground, only vaguely responsive. "Why did your curse mark go out of control in the forest of death?"

She'd been thinking about that too, and she'd come up with what she thought was a pretty good theory.

"Those guys from the sound village…" Sakura let out as she got up and dusted herself off, trying and failing to take a stance once more. "They were trying to hurt Sasuke and Naruto, and they were using me to do it… I just felt… I felt so…"

"Useless?"

Her expression must have gave her away, because the woman across from her had only a sad smile for her. As Anko's words shot through her, she felt the last of her strength fade.

"Yeah." Sakura muttered, falling to the ground, feeling completely spent. "I felt like… I was holding them back. They could've beaten those guys, if not for me. That was all I could think as that… that girl held me by my hair and dragged me along. She'd just bashed me over the head, I was barely even conscious, but I could hear them… could hear them flaunt their victory, could hear Naruto and Sasuke stop struggling and… and something inside me just snapped at that. I thought "I'm not going to be the reason that they die, I refuse to be!""

Anko sat down in front of her, paying rapt attention to her.

"And that's when…"

"Yeah… that's the last thing I can remember clearly before Sasuke stopped me." Sakura shivered, not because of the cold stone beneath her, but because of her own guilt. "B-but, it's not like those memories aren't there… it's like… I felt like I didn't have full control, but when I think back, I realize…"

Anko nodded solemnly, taking her student's hand in her own and holding on to it, whether as some small show of solidarity, or just to let Sakura feel someone else's touch, she couldn't tell.

She appreciated the gesture either way.

"Your actions were your own, right?"

A small droplet impacted Sakura's leg, and then another, but she refused to give in to her tears. She ran her right arm across her eyes and kept speaking.

"I-I did it. I know the curse mark may have been influencing me, but I know that I was the one that made the decision to stab her in the stomach, and I was the one who decided to stab her in the shoulder, and… and I know I was the one who was about to bring that kunai down and end her life!"

The moment she finished screaming her heart out, the dam inside her seemed to burst, and she could no longer hold back the tears that flowed down her face like streams. The strain of fighting to survive for the last few weeks, the thoughts Naruto and Sasuke's injuries, and her own guilt seemed to crash into her like a tsunami.

She was allowed to cry alone for only a few seconds before her eyes shot open in shock, realizing that Anko had brought her into a tight hug.

_W-what?_

Her new mentor didn't so much as speak, but the contact, the touch alone, was enough to force the sobs to flow out of her, and she let her head rest in the crook of the woman's neck as the minutes ticked by, the both of them silent.

_She's a bit of an odd teacher… _Sakura thought as her cheeks began to dry. _But I guess she's not so bad._

/-/

"The winner is Kankuro!"

Naruto couldn't help but let out a disappointed sigh as the defeated Kiba lay motionless in the arena below them. The match hadn't even been close, despite the beast-master's initial confidence.

"Kiba…" Hinata's quiet voice echoed from beside him. She'd watched the match along with the rest of her team, and it seemed they were having very similar thoughts.

"It was a decent performance." Sasuke spoke up. "It's a shame his opponent outclassed him. I think he could've put up a real fight against a lot of the other's here."

Hinata mumbled something under her breath that Naruto couldn't quite catch, but he thought it sounded vaguely like "Someone like me."

Shino proceeded to speak about the effort Kiba had put into his training, of lack thereof, but Naruto tuned him out, instead looking at Hinata with a questioning gaze.

He'd picked up on it before, but the girl seemed to have some sort of inferiority complex. She honestly believed she was an inferior fighter to Kiba, Shino, and probably the rest of the Genin in this room.

_But she's not even all that weak… where do those feelings come from?_

All of a sudden, the words Sasuke had spoken, about her being the disinherited after her sister defeated her, came back to him. Naruto couldn't help but feel a twinge of pity for the girl as she and her team watched Kiba be taken away on a stretcher. He was wounded, but not overly so. He'd make a full recovery within a few days.

Still, that meant that it was almost time for the next match. And that meant that hopefully, he'd have a second to talk to Hinata about what she was going through.

He and the rest of the Genin turned towards the screen, and Naruto silently hoped it would be a fight he didn't care too much about.

When the screen came to a stop, he audibly sighed.

It looked like that idea was out the window.

**_Sasuke Uchiha vs. Kabuto Yakushi_**

"Finally." Sasuke spoke simply, turning towards Naruto and nodding once, before stepping towards the stairs and beginning the journey to the arena below.

"Good luck." Naruto called out to him, giving him a thumbs up and his best sunny smile.

The boy returned it with one of his own, far more sedated than his had been, but one that meant the world to the both of them.

"Don't worry, I'll win."

"Who said I was worried? Of course you'll win!"

"Oh, c'mon! Now you're actively trying to jinx me!"

"After all, Sasuke Uchiha is the strongest Genin!"

"Stop!"

"Wielder of the Sharingan!"

"Naruto!"

/-/

As Sasuke stood in front of the boy named Kabuto, he couldn't help but feel uneasy.

Whenever he locked eyes with the boy in front of him, it felt a lot like when Orochimaru had gazed into him, analyzing every part of him, but not even truly registering his existence.

It was to a lesser degree with his opponent now, but it was enough to make him recall the pain in his chest as he walked.

_Going to have to watch my ribs here. _Sasuke planned silently. _I don't know if I'll be able to get up if I take a serious hit there._

Orochimaru had struck him but a single time, and the force of the blow alone had shattered two or three of the ribs on his left side.

_And he tried to place the curse mark on __**me**__… _Sasuke couldn't help but think about that. What if the curse mark had landed on him instead of Sakura?

Just what would have come about? Would he have even been able to compete?

"Good luck, Sasuke!"

"Get em'!"

The voices of both Ino and Naruto caused him to shake his head, dismissing his pointless thoughts. Sakura had received the curse mark, not him, there was no use dwelling on what could've been.

The proctor ran through the rules, though it was obvious by now that everyone had listened in on them during Sakura's first fight, taken them in, and then tuned the man out after that. Neither he nor Kabuto seemed to be even remotely paying attention.

"Are the both of you ready?"

"Yes." He responded simply.

"I am." Kabuto spoke, smiling over at Sasuke in an overly happy way, and it was enough to send a small chill down Sasuke's spine.

_What is it with this guy?_

"Then let the seventh match of the Chuunin Exam's second stage… BEGIN!"

There was something about the way the Sharingan read Kabuto's movements that immediately set off alarms in Sasuke's head. It was as if, just for a moment, the man's entire body was poised to strike. Not only that, but from what he'd been able to see, there was some serious power lurking there, untapped.

And yet, a second later, the boy had reigned it all back in. He'd gone from a predator about to spring into action to an unsuspecting prey. It was a good act, and against anyone else, it probably would've worked too.

Not against the power of his fully matured Sharingan, however, which could read the movements of his muscles.

_So… what is it he's trying to do?_

There was the obvious answer, that the boy was simply testing Sasuke's might in order to see how far he had to go against him, how much he'd need to expend, and reveal to the rest of the Genin here, to defeat him. But there was a tiny, almost insidious voice in the back of his head that kept whispering, kept clawing at him…

_It feels just like Orochimaru…_

When he'd fought against the Snake Sannin, he'd been thoroughly outclassed from minute one. And yet the warrior had made it his mission for Sasuke to never figure that out until he'd received what he wanted, until he'd finished testing him.

Where Orochimaru was so good at playing with his food that even the Sharingan didn't pick up on anything, the boy in front of him wasn't quite as clean at disguising his true power from Sasuke's eyes.

He shivered as he charged in, determined to finish this fight off now before whatever it was the boy wanted from him was achieved. He ducked under an initial, almost lazy blow, and formed the signs for a fireball jutsu, preparing to burn the boy away from point blank range.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

Kabuto wasn't even fazed, and Sasuke saw the boy dodge backwards in an instant, and then slow himself down manually. He allowed the flames to flicker across him, not burning him terribly, but making it seem like he couldn't dodge them completely.

That eliminated the theory that he was trying to probe Sasuke's power to see how far he needed to go. Unless this was an incredibly deep bait. But even so, there would've been no reason to purposefully take a hit you didn't need to.

All of this was a lie, then.

"What the hell is it you're trying to pull?" Sasuke spoke just loud enough for Kabuto to hear him, standing just a few feet to his front.

"I don't know what you mean, Sasuke, I'm just trying my best." The boy feigned innocence, his eyes going wide with confusion as he spoke.

"Don't give me that." He circled the boy, drawing a kunai into his left hand and circulating his chakra into his stomach, preparing to launch another fireball. "I can read your movements with the Sharingan! You've been holding back this entire time. Why?"

In an instant, the posture of the boy in front of him changed. He went from being slightly hunched over to standing tall, from having himself in a terrible stance to looking battle-ready.

"Ah! I suppose you saw through me, then." Kabuto smiled brightly, but it wasn't the same kind of smile that had sparked uneasiness in him before. "I was trying to see if I needed to go all out against you, but I guess if I'm to become a Chuunin, I should've known I'd need to try my hardest!"

_Fake._

_All of it's fake._

The enthusiasm, the disarming smile, the ninja cards…

_All of it's fake._

_But does that necessarily make him the enemy?_

_…No, I can't rule out the possibility that he's simply doing all of this for himself. _

It was annoying, but even if the man in front of him was truly holding back to test Sasuke, just like Orochimaru had, that didn't automatically mean he worked for the Sannin. He could've just as easily had his own goals, hell, he might not have even been lying about wanting to become a Chuunin.

_But he feels like Orochimaru._

His gut told him not to underestimate the boy in front of him, and he wasn't going to start doubting his instincts now.

They traded blows in the center of the arena, though with his Sharingan, it was more him landing blows while blocking Kabuto's. As he landed a particularly nasty shot directly to the boy's diaphragm, he leaned back and drew his chakra to his mouth.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

And once more, as he unleashed his flames, he noticed the boy in front of him instinctively start to dodge the attack.

And then, once more, he stopped.

This time, the raging fire overtook Kabuto entirely, and he was swallowed by the blast. As the fireball exploded, and heat washed over the arena, he tried to see if the boy would try and go for a counter out of the black smoke that now billowed out of the arena, it would've made for an amazing smokescreen.

But once more, nothing came.

Sasuke charged in once more, still trying to end the fight as soon as he possibly could…

And was stopped by the proctor's hand.

"Kabuto Yakushi has forfeited. The winner is Sasuke Uchiha!"

"What!?" He shouted perhaps just a tad too loud.

"Ah, I'm sorry, but your last attack really took the wind from my sails."

Kabuto emerged from the fireballs smoke, looking largely unaffected by the fireball jutsu. He possessed no burns, and even his clothes, though ripped and torn in places, seemed mostly untarnished. If anything, he'd recovered somewhat from the earlier flames, looking to have somehow healed the damage.

"I was already feeling exhausted going into this stage of the exam." The boy rubbed the back of his head in a vane attempt to appear sheepish. "But I thought "I'll try and see if I can face off against someone super weak!", but, well, I ended up getting you, Sasuke, so…"

The boy trailed off, as if his tone alone explained everything. It probably would've, if not for the suspicion coursing through him like lightning.

"Well, I guess I'm done. At the very least, I'm glad I was able to dodge that last fireball, it would've sucked to take that head-on!"

_'He didn't dodge.' _Something in Sasuke's mind spoke to him. _'He took the full brunt of that strike on his arms.'_

_…If that's the case, though, then just how did he take no damage from my Jutsu?_

Unfortunately, there would be no opportunity to ask the boy, as the proctor ushered him out of the arena, saying that it was time for the next competitors to fight.

As he climbed to the top of the stairs, he was immediately tackled by Naruto, who was hollering like the end of the world was upon them.

"YEAH! All three members of Team 7 reporting for stage 3 of the Exams!" The boy turned back around and began jumping once more, smiling wildly as he did.

"Damnit kid, I told you to stay quiet!" Zabuza grabbed Naruto by the collar, holding him a foot or two in the air with one hand like it was nothing.

"Oi! Put me down!"

The assassin sighed, looking over towards Sasuke lazily.

"Well fought, kid." The Demon of the Mist congratulated him simply.

"Y-yeah," He spoke, feeling doubt worm it's way into his voice. "Thanks."

If Zabuza thought that his hesitation was odd, then he didn't care all that much about it, turning back to the small boy he held in right arm and, a bit hypocritically, began yelling at him to stop yelling.

Sasuke's own thoughts, however, were still focused on his fight. Just what was it that Kabuto was trying to accomplish?

…Was he trying to accomplish anything at all?

"Gah, all this thinking is making my head hurt…"

"Y'know, there are a lot of rude things I could say in response to that," A girl's voice echoed off to his right. "But just this once, I'll give you a pass."

He looked up, both surprised and excited, to see Sakura walking over towards him and the rest of Team 7, the same woman from earlier just behind her.

"Yo, Sakura!" Naruto called out, smiling over at her and seemingly forgetting that he was still being hoisted a few feet off the ground by Zabuza.

"See," The Forest of Death's proctor spoke up, smiling in an almost Naruto-like way. "Told you I'd have her back by 8."

Sakura looked back at her new mentor in annoyance.

"It's 1:30 in the afternoon, Anko Sensei."

"I didn't say _at _8, I said _by _8." Anko smirked, shaking her head. "Sheesh, what am I going to do with a pupil who can't even listen to her master's words?"

Sakura's eyes narrowed, but there was no missing the small smile present on her face. It seemed that whatever had happened between those two, it had led to them becoming fast friends.

"Hey, wait!" Naruto yelled just a bit too loud, causing Zabuza to use his free hand to chop him across the top of his head, eliciting a small yelp from the Jinchuuriki. "Since everyone from Team 7's passed into the next stage, why don't we all go for Ramen!?"

_That sounds delicious, actually._

"No." Zabuza and Anko answered simply.

"Whaaaat? Why!?" Naruto whined out.

"Because the next few fights will show you a lot about the Genin that haven't fought yet. They've already gotten to watch your fight, so if you don't see theirs', then they enter the next stage of the Exam with an incredible advantage." Anko shrugged, looking bored as she leaned against the stone wall behind her. "It's not exactly super entertaining, but it is necessary."

Naruto let out a whine, but quieted down, which was about as clear a sign of compliance from the boy as you could get.

"Oh, by the way, how'd the fight's go? Who's left?" Sakura asked excitedly.

"Uhm…" Naruto seemed to be thinking about answering. "Sasuke, you do it."

"Right, of course." He sighed annoyedly, but couldn't quite hide his smile. "There are 6 competitors remaining. Tenten, Shino, Shikamaru, Zaku, Dosu, and Choji. The winner's of the previous fights were Myself, Naruto, those guys Gaara and Kankuro from the sand village, Hinata, and of course, you, Sakura. Lee and Neji came to a draw, so they're both out."

Sakura nodded, looking a bit lost in her thoughts.

"I guess that means Ino lost?" She spoke disappointedly.

"Yeah, unfortunately." Sasuke answered. "She got matched up against that Gaara guy, and when she used her Mind switch, it didn't even seem to work on the guy."

"He must have the same fortitude I do." Naruto spoke up as he finally freed himself from Zabuza's grip. "I've always been able to shake it off when the four of us train together."

"Eh, I'll ask about it later." Sakura spoke casually. "Still, I was hoping to get to face her in the next stage, sucks she's out."

"Yeah, I'm sure Sasuke wanted to face off against Lee, too, seeing as how he almost got beat by him in the hallway."

Sasuke looked over at his best friend with narrowed eyes.

"What was that, Naruto?"

"I said, you-" A hand came down on the back of Naruto's head once again, cutting him off. "OW!"

"Both of you, shut up," Zabuza gestured to the back wall, where the screen was spinning the six remaining names around. "It's time for the next fight."

The room was no where near as quiet now as the roulette turned, and Sasuke was fairly sure that was due in large part to most people having already fought. There were only 6 competitors remaining, out of the starting 20, after all.

When the turning finally did stop, it was to find quite the interesting match adorning the back wall.

**_Zaku Abumi vs. Shino Aburame_**

**End Chapter 20  
**

* * *

**Heyo.**

**Gotta say that I still really love writing Sakura, it's like my guilty pleasure that I don't have to feel guilty about.**

**This was a chapter dedicated entirely to our main characters, because I realized that there was a lot of side stuff going on in the last few chapters, and barely any POV's for our main three, especially Naruto, who had like 5 lines. **

**That's a small exaggeration, but you get what I mean.**

**Next chapter will be focused on Zaku, but we will certainly see some stuff for our main three as well, mainly Sakura.**

**Alright, see you all next week!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Yo.**

**It is with great sadness that I announce the end of the "Without Further Ado" Thing that I'd been doing, because I forgot to do it last week, and it seems like a good time to stop having to come up with them, because they were, quite honestly, a bit tiring.**

**Fun stuff this chapter, along with the conclusion of the Chuunin Exam's Second Round (Finally).**

* * *

**Chapter 21: All to Survive**

* * *

Zaku's head was fuzzy.

_Where… am I?_

His right arm ached horribly, though he couldn't quite remember why. He knew that Orochimaru had broken it a day or two ago, but that pain was so much different from what he was experiencing right now.

Faintly, he heard a voice say something, a voice that sounded familiar, but one that, once again, he couldn't quite place.

_What's going on?_

A voice rang so clearly through his head that it felt like it pierced straight through him.

"GET UP!"

_…Dosu?_

"Zaku Abumi is no longer able to fight." He was at the end of a tunnel, hearing a voice from the other end as he lied down on a cold floor. He could feel nothing but pain, but the voice that spoke to him was indifferent to his plight. It sounded like he'd often imagined a god would sound, completely unaffected.

Uncaring, and merciless.

He heard murmuring around him as his head lurched in pain, and he went to reach for it with his right arm, trying desperately to take hold of something, to feel something other than pain.

And yet, nothing happened.

He looked up, trying to see anything, and found a familiar face staring down at him. Albino white skin, with purple markings around his eyes, Orochimaru looked down at him without pity, without satisfaction or glee.

It was simply interest.

His head rang again, another voice calling out to him, though this one was different from his teammates cry. It was younger, sounding almost like Kin, in a way. The memories that flowed though him, however, said that it wasn't hers.

_"Zaku…" _The voice spoke to him simply, carving into his brain like a knife, and he opened his mouth to scream, yet nothing came out except silence.

_"Zaku…"_

They were being chased, he knew it, but what was chasing them?

His head felt like it would split in half at any moment.

Who was that other boy?

A name came to the forefront of his mind. He writhed in agony as it seemed to dispel the fog that he'd told Orochimaru to place there.

_Reis._

And suddenly, he was 8 years old again, residing in a dump on the outskirts of the Sound Village, and living off scraps like a beast.

/-/

_"Hey… Zaku…?"_

_He ignored the boy before him, trying to drown out the shouting that came from nearby. They were getting close, he could tell. They'd be on them in a moment, and then that would be it for the both of them._

_'You could run.' His treacherous brain spoke to him, whisperings of betrayal echoing in his head._

_"Shut up!" He shouted at both his friend and his own horrid mind, gazing down at the boy below him with a fury born of pain and suffering, tears rolling down his face like a churning river. "Just shut up! I'll get us out of this!"_

_"Zaku…" His friend spoke quietly, closing his eyes for a moment, for a horrible moment, and for just a second Zaku thought he was gone. His eyes drifted back open, and Zaku let out a relieved gasp, his hands shaking._

_"You have to go, Zaku."_

_The boy reached his hand out, touching it to Zaku's forearm, which even still was desperately trying to sew the boy's wounds together. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he already knew it wouldn't be enough._

_"Shut up, Damnit!" He shouted down at the boy. A second later, he heard the yelling from just beyond them go quiet, before, with a resounding cry, it suddenly grew more frantic, and, to Zaku's horror, began to close in on them._

_He reached down under the boy's back, and beneath his knees, and tried with all of his might to lift him._

_"Zaku, please…" His friend reached up towards the sky, trying to reach up and wipe his tears away, try and erase all of this, to go back to yesterday, when it was just two kids against the entire world, and they could laugh and enjoy their lives.  
_

_But there wasn't a point. The tears wouldn't stop falling._

_Reis looked him directly in the eye, steel in his gaze._

_"Go."_

_He felt his will to resist crumble as he heard the sounds around him grow even closer. His survivor instinct, the thing that had kept him alive all these years, kept Reis alive, told him their was no point to this. He had to go. _

_He let his hands fall to his sides, pushed himself up off the jagged concrete below him, and took a step backwards._

_"Reis… I…"_

_The boy smiled up at him, then closed his eyes, folding his hands atop his chest._

_"Hey, Zaku?" Reis spoke quietly, never opening his eyes, having truly accepted his fate. "Can you promise me something?"_

_"Anything." He spoke desolately, tears streaming down his face in spades._

_"Get out of this place." The boy reached one hand up in the air, and to him, it must've seemed like he grasped the stars. Yet his fist fell a moment later, having never held anything at all. "Get out of here and live your life how you want to, don't let anyone else tell you how to live it."_

_Zaku wasn't sure that'd be possible. Children like them didn't tend to get happy endings._

_But even still…_

_"I… I'll do my best."_

_Reis seemed to relax at that, his body going limp, his arms sinking into the skin on his chest, just a bit more than they had before. _

_His lips trapped in a perpetual smile._

/-/

The flashback stopped suddenly, even as a few tears rolled down Zaku's cheek. Everything was so clear in the back of his head, everything he'd told himself to forget, he'd remembered.

Did it even matter?

_Who cares? _His mind supplied. _Reis told me to live, so that's what I'll do._

"Thusly, the winner is-"

_And I can't live…_

He felt his left-hand grab hold of something, dragging his entire weight with all of his strength off of the floor.

_If I don't stand up!_

He found himself on his feet finally, having dragged himself up using the proctor's jacket. The man in question shot him a surprised look as he took a step back, walking to once more stand in between the two fighters.

"Mr. Abumi, please!" A different man than before, this one clad almost entirely in white garb, spoke worriedly. "Your arm-"

"Shut up…" He had tried to shout, but found himself without the strength, his voice instead coming out as what might as well have been a whisper. "I have to win…"

"It's only the Chuunin Exams, if we act quickly, we can sew your arm back on, and you can heal much faster!"

_Sew my arm back…_

He looked down, finding himself not even the least bit scared. When he saw the stump that had previously been his arm, he didn't flinch. There was no time for that.

If he was going to survive, if he was going to win, then this had to be fast.

_"Only the Chuunin Exams"_, the man had said. He wanted to laugh at the absurdity of that statement. This wasn't just a game to him, not like it was for all the rest of the students here, this was life or death.

"I'm not eliminated, am I?"

"W-well, technically, you got up before the proctor could declare you unfit to continue, so-"

His smile became wide, almost feral, as he pushed the man out of the way, drawing a kunai from his bag with his left hand. He found his left arm in a similar amount of pain to when his right had been broken, and when he looked down, he found holes running up it, with small insects crawling out of them.

Such a sight should've disgusted him, but right now, he was apathetic. He looked towards his opponent without hate, without rage, without any feeling at all. He knew only one thing as he charged the boy before him…

_I must win._

Because if he didn't, then he wouldn't be the only one to pay the price. It would be Dosu and Kin who would pay for it as well.

Did he like them as much as he had Reis?

_No, not quite._

_But that doesn't mean I can abandon them either!_

He'd run away from Reis, let the boy be killed by the men pursuing them. In that moment, he'd committed a sin so terrible that even he, practically a beast, had been unable to live with it. he'd asked Orochimaru to erase his greatest mistake, but even a man as powerful as the Snake Sannin hadn't been able to rid him of it.

And so now, with his actions, he was determined to prevent it from happening again. He was determined to claim victory here, to allow his teammates to live, just a little bit longer.

Maybe they would still die. Maybe Orochimaru would use them like pawns even still, throwing them away at his soonest convenience. But maybe, just maybe…

They could survive.

The boy before him, the one who had, at the very start of their fight, plugged up the holes in his arms with his beetles, knew nothing of the weight Zaku carried. Just as he'd said to that girl earlier, Sakura, he didn't blame the boy for that. It wasn't his fault that the world had been kind to him.

And the fact that Zaku was about to destroy him wasn't his fault either.

The boy with the glasses blocked his first strike on his own kunai, drawing another and threatening to stab it into Zaku's chest. Instinctively, Zaku reached into his bag with his right hand and brought out his own second Kunai to counter.

He realized his mistake only an instant before it would've been fatal, dodging backwards as he ran through plans in his head, trying to conjure up some method of victory.

_Right, I don't have a right arm at the moment._ Zaku backpedaled, coming to a stop a way's away. _OK, so w_hat_ can I do?_

A swarm of bugs shot out of his opponents coat, flying right towards him as they buzzed annoyingly. His head ached at the noise, and he felt a small bit of rage course through him.

"As if I didn't have enough shit to deal with already…" He took a step forward, taking his kunai and placing it between his teeth, clamping down on it as he reached into his bag once more, pulling out one of his emergency items.

As the swarm threatened to overtake him, he threw the paper bomb directly inside it.

_These bugs absorb chakra… I'm taking a gamble that they can't do it to something inorganic._

He practically sighed in relief as the explosion went off, scattering the remaining bug's corpses in different directions. He wanted to take a second to rest, but he was starting to feel a bit woozy from losing blood, so he instead charged back into the smoke, throwing a kunai at his opponents previous position.

There was a small shout as the kunai connected with something, and he wanted to assume that the Kunai had hit the boy, but he knew he couldn't. It wouldn't have been hard for him to pretend to be hit by it, only to be secretly waiting, unscathed, for his unsuspecting opponent to emerge back from the smoke.

_Assume the worst, hope for the best._

He jumped as high as he could as he appeared out of the smoke, looking to his left and seeing that, as he'd hoped, his opponent now bore a fairly serious cut to his abdomen that he was nursing with his left hand. The boy brought his right hand in front of him, and more bug's billowed out of it, massing towards him.

He had no way of countering it. That had been his only paper bomb, and now, he was left with only a single kunai, the one resting in his mouth.

Instead of trying to dodge the bugs, Zaku tried something truly insane, charging right through them.

_They steal chakra, right? Then that's fine!_

As he hit the swarm, he felt his energy dwindle rapidly, burning away like fuel added to a flame.

_You can have it! Take it all! But in exchange…_

He hit the end of the bugs as almost all of his chakra was absorbed, but he didn't stop. The boy in front of him hadn't been expecting him to emerge from his makeshift wall, and he hadn't been expecting the kunai that now lodged in his shoulder either.

_I'll take your damn king!_

He drew the Kunai out and held it directly over the boy's throat, threatening to kill him right there.

"Give." Was all he said.

The boy below him gave a quiet chuckle, before, with a small buzzing noise, the clone dissipated into beetles. To his left, a faint buzzing was quickly growing louder.

_Shit!_

He was knocked to the side by a massive swarm of the things, and they swirled around him in spades as he writhed on the floor, the last of his chakra being steadily absorbed.

"Surrender." The voice of his opponent called out from somewhere beyond the cloud of insects. "Or the beetles will take the remainder of your chakra, and you will perish."

_Surrender… Yeah, that sounds good… _Zaku thought, feeling the last of his energy leave him as he fell to the floor. _I guess… I'll lose here… maybe Dosu and Kin can…_

His eyes shot open.

_Dosu… Kin… Damnit! I can't lose!_

His consciousness was fading, his chakra completely spent, and his bag completely empty of any more tricks.

_I can't lose…_

His right arm, or what was left of it, seemed to hum with energy. The metal tube that stuck out of it shook, even as more bug's crawled into it.

_I can't lose…_

He reached as deep into himself as he could, to the very core of his chakra, and found a small, almost nonexistent pool of chakra. He tapped into it, readying himself for one final attack. He forced it into his right stub and pointed it into the ground.

_I can't lose… To this goddamned kid!_

There was an explosion of chakra, stone, and beetles as the arena below him was blasted away. What was left of his arm erupted in pain, but he knew he couldn't stop, couldn't slow down.

"How can you still stand?" The boy across from him seemed confused, not even reacting to his opponent.

"How!?"

He forced himself up as fast as he could, running full speed at his opponent, who seemed to recover from his shock just a moment too late.

"Because my life depends on it!"

He rammed into the boy, using his head as a makeshift battering ram as he brought his fist into the boy's stomach, causing the bug-user to cough violently. A second later, he tried to respond, a few bugs swarming out of his left sleeve, but Zaku was faster, sweeping the boy's legs out from under him and tackling him to the floor.

"YIELD!" He screamed as he headbutted the boy, causing the back of his head to impact against the stone beneath him.

The boy clicked his tongue, allowing bugs to flow out of his sleeves and prepare to surround them both.

He headbutted the boy again, but the pain he received in return was nothing to slouch at. He brought his fist up and hit the boy's face, cracking his glasses as he connected. Even as he felt the beetles begin to crawl on his back, he knew he couldn't stop.

He zoned out as he felt the skin on his knuckles begin to peel off, slamming over and over again into his opponents face. His chakra felt like it could give out at any time, and him along with it, but he kept going. He fought like a cornered beast, striking with no regard for the boy beneath him.

As he brought his fist up one final time, preparing to finish his opponent off, he felt someone grab his arm. He turned around with a shocked expression to see a female Jonin he didn't know.

"That's enough." The woman spoke. Concern, and a fair helping of rage, evident on her face. "Shino Aburame concedes."

"Let him say that himself!" Zaku roared at her, looking back down at his opponent as he did, trying to break his arm free of her grasp, but finding his breath get caught in his throat as he did.

The boy below him was breathing heavily, blood streaming from his obviously broken nose as he did. His cracked glasses lay beside him, though a few shards of glass were embedded into his face.

"You win." The woman spoke distastefully. "Now get off of my student."

She lifted him by his arm and pushed him away, towards the medic who still sat by the side of the arena. Having been so lost in the fight, he'd forgotten that the man had initially tried to stop him, tried to get him to rest on the stretcher he'd brought out.

He felt the pain in his arm return as the adrenaline began to wear off, and he nearly fell backwards from the dizziness.

_After all of that, am I really going to die of blood loss of all things?_

He did fall a second later, though he was held up by the doctor behind him, who led him onto a stretcher, and then proceeded to place his blown off arm on top of him. Zaku couldn't help but feel a bit queasy about that, which was an odd change of pace from how'd he'd felt about everything a few minutes ago.

He chocked that one up to the heat of the moment as well.

As he was slowly pulled out of the arena, he couldn't help but let his gaze wander. He looked up at Dosu, who nodded solemnly at him. Zaku tried to return it but found that his head wouldn't move. A second later, his eyes connected with Orochimaru's, who stood just a few feet back from his teammate.

The man smiled down at him, his lips spread with a cruel glee.

In that moment, he recalled Reis' words.

_"Get out of here and live your life how you want to, don't let anyone else tell you how to live it."_

Here he was, living according to someone else's rules, doing someone else's bidding. No wonder he'd chosen to forget his time with Reis, he'd not only abandoned his only friend, but then he'd gone and disgraced his last promise to the boy.

_I've got to do something… _Zaku thought aimlessly to himself. _I can't just serve Orochimaru for the rest of my life._

_…But what choice do I have?_

As he thought about that, he looked back towards the boy he'd fought against, who was being taken away to a medical bay on the opposite side of the arena.

The boy's teammates, The Hyuga, the Inazuka, and their sensei, who he now recalled was a Genjutsu specialist, all flocked around him, watching him carefully as they all walked with him.

Seeing that, he felt a tiny pain in his chest, like a pinprick.

A small twinge of pity, along with a growing regret.

/-/

Sakura was stunned as the two boy's were carried out of the arena, both of them terribly wounded.

She'd been a part of a lot of battles to the death recently, but that one had to have taken the cake. Neither boy had been willing to give up, until their very lives were on the line.

_"How!?" _She recalled the sound ninja's screams. _"Because my life depends on it!"_

Zaku's words echoed in her head for quite a while, even as the next round was delayed so that the arena could be brought back into presentable shape. As it stood currently, it was covered in holes from where paper bombs and Zaku's wind had blown through it, and there were a couple thousand dead bugs lying around it as well, along with copious amounts of blood.

_So, his very life was at stake, huh? _Sakura thought glumly, kicking herself as she did. _I'd bet Orochimaru's got something on him… That has to be why…_

"Hey, uhm… Sakura?"

She snapped to attention almost immediately, meeting Sasuke's gaze as he gave a small wave.

"Oh," She struggled to think of what to say, but ultimately defaulted to a general question. "What's up?"

"Nothing." The Uchiha admitted, rubbing the back of his neck as he did, and then taking the spot next to her on the railing, looking down into the arena. "I just noticed that you looked… a bit out of it."

"Am I that obvious?"

"No… well, not entirely, we've just known each other a long time, and-"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." Sakura sighed as she leaned further forward, putting her entire weight on the metal bars in front of her and sighing as she sunk into them. "I just… That fight was horrible to watch… first Zaku's arm got blown off, and then those bugs were crawling everywhere, and then Shino nearly got beat to death… I guess it just shook me a little."

"Yeah," Sasuke sighed. "I think it shook all of us. Hell, even Naruto's looking a bit depressed."

The boy pointed off to his right, where, just as he'd said, a melancholic Naruto quietly against the back wall, gazing off into nothing.

"It's not just you." Sasuke gave her a small smile, before walking back over towards Naruto and sitting down next to the boy, beginning to banter with him about something or another, before the Jinchuuriki yelled out that he wasn't feeling down at all.

Sakura laughed at the exchange but couldn't quite help but zone back out the moment a distraction was gone. Luckily, she didn't have to wait that long for a new one, as a hand on her shoulder brought her back out of her thoughts again, though this time it was her new mentor.

"Yo." The woman brought her hand up in greeting, sliding in next to her and hitting her lightly with her behind, knocking her to the side slightly. "That was a rough fight, especially for the Chuunin Exams. Most of these kids are too scared to even threaten another person's life with a Kunai to end a match, let alone beat each other to death."

"Yeah, I know I… I think, if my opponent had called my bluff before… I wouldn't have been able to kill him." Sakura admitted as her right hand shook slightly. "I'm glad he surrendered when he did… If he hadn't, I'm honestly not sure what I would've done."

"So you're not the killing type, then?"

A small shiver ran down Sakura's spine at her mentor's words.

"Gods, no. I'm… Honestly, at times, I think I'm a little too soft for all of this." Sakura rubbed the back of her neck absentmindedly, leaning into the woman beside her without meaning to. "I don't really like hurting people… So why…"

"Why what?" Anko asked curiously.

"N-nothing, sorry." Sakura lied, laughing embarrassedly. "Just thinking out loud."

Her mentor sighed.

"You're wondering why you nearly killed that girl in the forest, right?"

The clairvoyant guess had her reeling, her hands shaking as she grabbed the bar in front of her for support, though she needn't have bothered, for Anko had already held her beneath her arms, helping to keep her steady.

"C-could you not be… weirdly psychic for like 5 minutes?"

Anko smiled at her, ruffling her hand with her left hand as she brought it out from under Sakura, before putting it in the pocket of her trench coat.

"No can do, being weirdly psychic is one of the few advantages we adults have over you kids." Anko gave her a wide smile, before it tapered off, being replaced by a somewhat sad expression. "Do you wanna' talk about how you're feeling?"

"…Not really." Sakura admitted a bit pathetically. "M-maybe later, it's just-"

Anko ruffled her hair for a second time, leaving her bangs to hang directly over her eyes.

"I said if you want, don't feel pressured to or anything. I'm just saying that sometimes it's better to make your feelings known, instead of bottling them all up inside you."

She considered the woman's words as her mentor walked away, moving to speak with the leader of their team and his protégé, who had returned from hitting on Ino around the same time she had. Well, it would've been hitting on her, except for the fact that he still claimed he didn't have a crush on her at all, and somehow actually seemed to believe that, and thus he wasn't very direct about it.

Luckily for him, Ino seemed to see right through him, and so she'd taken his kind words in stride, flirting back and forth with him, even if she had no intentions of getting together with the boy. Sakura could never really decide whether that trait of hers was a kindness or not.

Still, it was refreshing to see Haku as a blushing mess of a teenage boy instead of the cold, almost emotionless killer he'd been when they'd first met.

The screen on the back wall began to spin, but by this point, nearly everyone in the room had already fought. No matter the result of the roulette, the following match was already confirmed, so no one really seemed to care as the spinning came to a stop.

**_Tenten vs. Shikamaru Nara_**

/-/

Tenten did her best to keep her breathing as calm as she could as she stepped off of the metal stairs and onto the cold stone floor below her.

Lee and Neji were both still in the infirmary, so it had been Guy alone to send her off for her match. If she were being honest, the man's enthusiasm had been enough to motivate her on it's own, but she still would've preferred having the whole gang to see her off.

As she faced down her opponent in the center of the ring, she couldn't quite shake the feeling that he didn't want to be there.

"I will briefly recount the rules of this bout." The proctor began, before, as usual, everyone in the arena zoned him out.

Tenten was on edge about the boy before her. From what she knew of the Nara family, which wasn't all that much, they manipulated shadows as a form of attack, defense, and utility. They could use them as blades, shields, and even as tethers or ropes. However, she'd also heard that most of those techniques were of a higher level than what a Genin could accomplish, so she figured she wouldn't be seeing any of them in this particular encounter.

_Still, doesn't hurt to be cautious. _

As the proctor finished, and inquired as to whether they were both ready to fight, Tenten studied her opponent. On the surface, he was a bumbling mess. His guard was down, his eyes were glazed over, and he seemed to yawn at least 5 times a minute.

Still, the likelihood that it was all an act was high.

_No one gets to this stage of the exam just to treat it as a joke. _Tenten reasoned, taking a battle stance as she confirmed her readiness, drawing her staff across her arm and pointing it in her opponents direction. _I'll keep a secret weapon on me, just in case._

_If he's going to use shadows, then I'll use light._

"Then, Let the ninth round of the Chuunin Exams Second Stage… BEGIN!"

The boy in front of her tensed suddenly, going from lax to prepared in half a second. It would've been an impressive maneuver if she hadn't been expecting it. He brought his hands up in front of her in a hand-sign that was unfamiliar to her, but not one that she couldn't guess the meaning of.

_So that's the sign to bend shadows?_

She charged forwards, preparing her trump card in her left palm as she did, drawing a few shuriken by slotting her fingers inside them and hurling them at her opponent, forcing him to bob and weave, not allowing him to sit still and focus.

Even still, she ran out of the small arms eventually, and the boy continued to backpedal, jumping backwards every time she gained ground, and throwing out his own kunai as he did.

_Even still, I can deflect these with ease, so why –_

One of the kunai began to glow, and she had half a second to realize her mistake before she was blown backwards by the paper bomb, landing hard on the cold stone beneath her. A second later, she felt an unfamiliar feeling run up her entire body, like something was grabbing her everywhere all at once.

"Alright, well, that wasn't so bad." A voice came from out of the smoke, and a second later, so too did her opponent. He wore no smirk, nor any other sign that he thought he was victorious.

He moved slowly and with a seemingly large amount of effort, drawing his left hand over to his leg, and retrieving a kunai that rested there. At the same time, Tenten found herself suddenly standing, and beginning to mimic the motions as the boy did them, reaching for nothing on her left leg, gripping nothing, and bringing nothing up in front of her.

"I don't suppose you'll surrender now, will you?" The boy named Shikamaru gave a dim smile, tilting his head slightly. "It'd save both of us the trouble."

She gave only a glare in response, to which the boy in front of her simple laughed, taking small, careful steps towards her.

_I need to test something first…_

With her right hand, the one held before her against her will, she tried to flex her fingers, just a small bit.

They moved, but only just.

_That's fine, it's enough. I just need to get closer._

Another step. They were perhaps 10 feet apart.

_Just a bit closer…_

The boy in front of her took another step, raising his weapon and gesturing like he would throw it.

_Just a bit…_

He took one final step.

_Closer._

She opened her left hand as hard as she could, which resulted in only a small gap being formed. Luckily, that was all she'd needed.

"A flash-bomb!?"

As the small object hit the ground, Tenten's world knew only light for a small moment, but that was fine. She still knew where the boy was.

As she brought her staff forward and slammed it into the boy's position, she felt a solid connection on the other end. She followed through with another two strikes, and then another.

Until, all of a sudden, control of her body was wrested away from her once again.

"W-what!?" She shouted, finding her vision still swirling, but finally managing to regain some small focus.

Below her was a small pool of black shadow.

"Heh," Her opponent laughed, stretching, and gently massaging the large red welt growing on the side of his face. "Did you really think I wouldn't have an answer to my most obvious counter?"

As the spots in her vision finally cleared, she saw that the field emanating from her opponent, a decently sized black circle with him at the center, stretched around 5 feet in diameter.

"Well, you were almost right, at least." The boy continued, raising his hands in the air, and thusly, hers. "I came up with this little technique a few weeks ago. You see, even when a flash bomb is set off, a shadow is still created. The problem in using it correctly is that, generally, I can't actually see what's going on when that happens."

The boy raised his hands in a 'what can you do?' gesture, as did she.

"Still, I figured that if I could create a circle, then, at the very least, I can capture anything near me without needing to see." At this, the boy once more drew his hand across his cheek, Tenten doing the same to her own. "Still, without my eyesight or hearing, the only way to confirm you're near me is to take a few hits."

She couldn't quite control her temper. She'd had him! She should have had him, at the very least, and yet here he was telling her that all of this was in some master plan?

And to think, she'd asked Guy sensei for a flash bomb after finding out her match-up, thinking herself so overly clever too. She'd gotten the idea from the Forest of Death, when her and Team 7 had escaped from the Snake Sannin Orochimaru using one of their own.

…And it had all amounted to nothing.

_I completely…_

"Anyways, I surrender."

_…Won?_

"WHAT!?" The entire arena seemed to shout at once.

"Wait, what?" Tenten asked herself, completely confused. "But why?"

The boy gave a small chuckle, before, a second later, the shadows around him receded, and the boy fell backwards, sitting calmly and sighing exhaustedly.

"Despite what I think is a good idea behind it, I couldn't put that jutsu into practice because it drains me way too fast." Shikamaru spoke, managing to get to his feet a second later, smiling tiredly. "I can only keep it up for maybe 30 seconds, and that's at full reserves. But I'd already drained myself quite a bit in the forest, and then again with the first shadow imitation."

"That flash bomb was a pretty good idea, I'm guessing you knew a little bit about the Nara clan?"

"Y-yeah." She spoke after a second, still a little shocked by the last minute's turn of events. "I'd heard about them every once in a while when I read up on famous Leaf Ninjas… your dad's pretty famous."

"Heh, yeah, my old man's got a bit of a reputation." Shikamaru laughed quietly, though it was more of a sharp exhale than anything. "Alright, well, good fight."

As Shikamaru began to climb the steps back to his team, the proctor, who up until then had seemed a bit stunned, called the match.

"If that's the case, then the winner if Tenten." The man walked over to her, asked her a few questions about the exam, and then sent her on her way.

As she walked back up the stairs, she couldn't help but hear Naruto cheering her on, and smile just a bit as she made it to the top, shooting the boy a thumbs-up from across the room, which he returned with a sunny smile of his own.

She spoke briefly to Guy about the victory, him congratulating her strategy, and even if she knew she should've been proud of herself for coming up with the idea, she couldn't help but feel just the smallest bit disappointed.

She'd been declared the victor, and yet…

She didn't feel like she'd won that match.

Not at all.

/-/

As Zaku awoke, the first thing he felt was horrendous amounts of pain coursing through his body. The second thing he felt was that his right arm was once again attached to his body, which was a noted improvement from it being a few feet away from him on the floor.

He opened his eyes, finding them a bit glazed over. From what he could see, he was in a small medical bay. It wasn't much, a few pieces of equipment to monitor his vitals were sat beside him, along with a small piece of bread, and with a glass of water.

The latter went much appreciated. He'd only been asleep, from what he could tell, for a couple of hours, and yet even still his throat was killing him. He reached for the cup with his right arm and found that it responded decently well. It wasn't perfect, there was a sensation similar to when his arm fell asleep present in the tips of his fingers, but it would do well enough for the time being.

He drank the entire cup in two gulps, taking a couple deep breaths afterwards. He wolfed down the small piece of bread as well, sitting back against the headboard behind him and sighing deeply as he finished, feeling the food move through him and energize him.

"Oh, you're awake."

The voice startled him, and he reached for a nonexistent kunai even as he turned towards it. A second later he stopped, breathing a silent sigh of relief as he did.

"Kin, you're alright." He didn't let his feelings show on his face, choosing instead to regard her with a look of neutrality, but he felt a quiet happiness below the surface.

"Yeah, I sort of drifted in and out of consciousness for the first day, but since then I've been recovering." The girl gave him a tired smile. "And then a few hours ago you got wheeled in here, covered in blood, completely passed out, and missing an arm. Honestly, way to boost my stress levels just as I was calming down."

"Yeah, uh…" Zaku rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a bit embarrassed despite himself. "Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it." The girl laughed quietly, leaning back into her pillows, and pulling the small hospital blanket back over her. "Honestly, I've only been awake this long to give you Dosu's message."

"What did he say?"

"Just "I won.". That's it."

Zaku let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding, smiling despite everything that had happened that day.

They'd survived. Maybe just for one more day, but they'd done it.

"Do you know who he ended up fighting?" Zaku asked, a small bit curious.

"Apparently the Cho from the Ino-Shika-Cho." Kin explained. "Well, it was one of their kids, but from what Dosu said, he was a pretty easy opponent."

"That's… that's good."

"What, were you worried?"

He looked over at her and saw a faint smirk on her face, one which he couldn't quite make sense of.

It hit him a second later.

_She doesn't know._

She hadn't been present when Orochimaru gave them their ultimatum, she'd passed out just before it, when he'd stitched up her wounds as best as he could. She still thought that this was just another mission. Even if, perhaps, she had a bad feeling somewhere in the back of her head, she didn't know their lives were on the line.

_Do I tell her?_

There was something to be said for blissful ignorance. If she really could believe that everything was going to be fine up until the very final hour, then she might be in much better spirits. She wouldn't have to deal with he crippling knowledge that he and Dosu possessed.

That they were meaningless.

But that didn't matter. Even if it had it's merits, the cons were far too many. Not the least of which was that, if something did happen to the two of them, she'd have no way of knowing until it was too late.

And he wasn't going to have another life on his conscious, even if he wouldn't be around to know about it.

"Hey, Kin?" He began, sitting up in his bed and turning towards the girl, letting his legs dangle off the side of the bed.

"What's up?" The girl responded, turning on her side to face him, face perplexed.

"There's just… Something I have to tell you."

/-/

Naruto, much like the other 9 victors of the Chuunin Exams Second Round, stood with bated breath as the Hokage made a grand speech about their accomplishments.

If he was being honest, he kind of just wanted to go home already.

The stress of the Forest of Death, Sakura's curse mark, Sasuke and him nearly dying a few times, and then their own fights in the second exam were finally starting to weigh on him. All Naruto wanted to do now was go back to the Leaf Village, find Ichiraku, and down a couple thousand bowls of Ramen, before going to bed approximately 3 seconds later.

_C'mon, old man, I'm exhausted. _Naruto pouted as the Kage went on and on about the honor and prestige of the competition. Lord Third, seemingly reading the atmosphere of the room, sighed, and handed things over to the exam's proctor.

"Thank you, Lord Hokage." The man coughed into his fist, before gesturing to a small blackboard behind him, onto which he placed a piece of paper.

Naruto jittered with excitement. On that page was, what he assumed, his match-up for the 3rd round! It'd be the opponent he'd set his sights on for the near future.

"The Chuunin Exam's Third Stage will take place a month from today. These will be the first opponents you will go up against on that day, but do bare in mind that if you hope to win the entire competition, you will likely need to face off against 2 or 3 more opponents." The Proctor finished, coughing again into his hand. "Now, if you will all come up one at a time-"

The man's words went ignored, and instead, a crowd of excited teenagers all tried to read the same leaflet at once, hoping to catch a glimpse past the others to see who they'd be facing.

**_Naruto Uzumaki vs. –_**

"Gah! I can't see my opponent!" Naruto yelled out, before being elbowed in the face by the Puppet user from the Sand Village. "Hey, watch it!"

"Out of the way kid!"

"Oi! Why don't you make me!?"

"Naruto, stop picking fights in line!"

"He started it, Sakura!"

"I don't care if he started it!"

As he was once more buffeted backwards, he felt a small tug on the sleeve of his jacket, and turned around to see Hinata standing before him, looking down at the floor, seeming incredibly dejected.

"Uhm… Naruto?"

There was something about the girl's voice that always managed to calm him down. It wasn't that he was more comfortable around her than his friend's, but it was more like he could never imagine the girl raising her voice. She sounded like a cool autumn evening.

"What's up, Hinata?"

The girl met his eyes for a fraction of a second before once more challenging the floor to a staring competition. She balled her hands into fists, seemingly working up the determination to say or do something.

"I-I… I look f-forward to facing you!" She bowed deeply as she said it, before, with a small meep, as if she'd only just realized what she said, she turned and fled back to her Sensei, who stood a way's away, smiling fondly at the two of them.

_Forward to facing me? _Naruto questioned mentally. _What's that supposed to – _

_…Oh._

He turned back towards the sheet of paper on the blackboard. By now, everyone had seen their first opponent, and so they'd all moved away from it, walking back towards their teams, or, in Sasuke and Sakura's cases, waiting for him to join them.

He walked to stand in front of the sheet, read off the match-ups for the next stage, and had his suspicions confirmed.

**_Naruto Uzumaki vs. Hinata Hyuga;_**

**_ Zaku Abumi vs. Tenten;_**

**_ Sasuke Uchiha vs. Kankuro; _**

**_Sakura Haruno vs. Gaara, Winner vs. Dosu Kinuta_**

**End Chapter 21**

* * *

**Sorry to tease.**

**I'm not actually sorry. I in fact live for it.**

**Longer chapter than normal, but mostly just because I wanted to get this part of the Chuunin Exams done this chapter, and not have it bleed into the next. We are officially in the endgame now!**

**Not really. We're probably halfway done. I forgot how long the Chuunin Exams were until I went back and re-watched them for this story, and holy crap, it's just never-ending. Stretches from episode 27 all the way to 80. **

**Suffice it to say this story will be... abridging certain sections.**

**Obviously some will be changing as well. A lot of which should be happening in the next few chapters.**

**First OC This chapter. Don't worry, that won't be a theme. Zaku doesn't get a lot of characterization in the manga or anime, so I decided to give him some. There may be an OC occasionally, but they'll never be more relevant than Reis was here.**

**Anyways, see you all next week!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Hello!**

**Back for another chapter of Trip Down a Hill, now with new grape flavor!**

**This is basically a set-up chapter, though i'd like to think I did a good enough job keeping it entertaining that you can forgive me.**

**Nothing much to say, let's get into it!**

* * *

**Chapter 22: An Unfair Declaration  
**

* * *

"And so, there we were…" Naruto held his hands out in front of him, Setting the scene as dramatically as he could. "Trapped in the forest of death, facing off against an opponent 4 times our size."

"He was of average height." Sasuke corrected from the seat on his right, swirling his chopsticks through his tonkotsu broth before lifting the captured noodles up to his mouth, sucking them in in but a moment.

"Yes, but his aura made him seem 10 feet tall!"

"That's only twice your height."

"A-anyways, It was only Me, Tenten, and Sasuke-"

"Tenten, Sasuke, and I, Naruto." Sakura interrupted from beside Sasuke, a coy smile on her face.

Naruto shot the both of them an annoyed stare, before continuing.

"Sasuke was carrying the unconscious Sakura along on his back, making the both of them effectively useless."

They both coughed loudly, but otherwise said nothing, which, in Naruto's eyes, was effectively conceding the point.

"Still, with some genius planning, I managed to shake the man off of our tail using a state of the art ninja tool! After that, the man continued to pursue us, constantly nipping at our heels. Through my sheer genius, I was able to once again come up with a plan." Naruto walked his audience through it, talking about the shadow clones he'd sent out and how he had, basically, stopped the Sannin all on his own.

"Wow," Haku smiled calmly over at him from his left, sipping some broth from his bowl as he did. "To think you all fought against Orochimaru and lived. That's really quite impressive."

"Fought against? Hah!" Zabuza shot him a look from across the bar, off to Haku's left. "If that man were serious, the three of you wouldn't be here right now. He wasn't after your lives, was he?"

"W-well no, but-"

"There, see?" The man pointed his chopsticks in Naruto's direction. "He had some other motive for targeting you. From what girlie says, it's that he wanted to place a curse mark on the Uchiha. Even then, the fact that he didn't just do it immediately when he saw you three shows me that he was after something else as well." Zabuza yawned as he leaned back, stretching his arms as he did. "If you ask me, he was probably testing you."

"Well yeah…" Naruto let out dissapointedly. "We kinda' figured that out."

"Then don't go shouting about how you're all grand warriors, when in reality, you got bailed out by that damned sage."

"Wait," Naruto uttered confusedly. "Sage?"

The man seemed to realize his mistake, because a second later, he coughed loudly, and suddenly shouted "Oi, old timer, another bowl!"

"Comin' right up!" Came Teuchi's voice from the back of Ichiraku.

"Hey, Zabuza Sensei, you're avoiding the question!"

"No idea what you're talking about kid." The man spoke up a second later, giving a rough grunt that could've been construed as thanks to Ayame, who rolled her eyes, but accepted it anyways as she walked off.

"Well, I think you did fantastically, Naruto." Iruka spoke from Zabuza's left side, smiling at him in an almost motherly way. "I got to catch your match at the arena the other day. Your trick with the transformation jutsu was phenomenally well set up."

Naruto blushed as he drank the last of his broth, about to raise his voice to ask for another before Ayame placed a fourth bowl in front of him, smiling down on him with a look that said 'yeah, we already know.'

"Still…" Iruka continued, barely missing a beat. "It's a real shame that your first opponent is little Hinata."

_And there goes my good mood. _Naruto thought glumly.

"Ah! Iruka Sensei!" Sakura sounded annoyed as she slapped their teacher lightly on the arm. "You weren't supposed to say the H-word!"

Their teacher laughed a bit, but it seemed the somber atmosphere Naruto let off was spreading, because the conversation around the entire table was gradually growing quieter, until there was no one speaking at all.

Even the two ramen chefs in the back had gone back to cleaning their instruments, wanting to listen in on what Naruto had to say. With anyone else, he might not have been willing to keep speaking, but Teuchi and Ayame might as well have been family, so he swallowed his doubt, and spoke freely.

"Honestly… I'm sure anyone else would be thrilled to be matched up against Hinata. She's not all that powerful, and she doesn't have any real points of strength, other than the Hyuga style, which even then she uses at a very mediocre level." Naruto knew that his words were being a bit brutal towards the girl, but felt that revealing his feelings was crucially important. "But… she's already dealt with a lot in her life, even I can tell that. I… I don't want to have to hurt her pride anymore than it's already been."

"You're that confident you'll win?" Zabuza spoke, before snorting a second later. "What am I saying, the only reason you're saying this is because you're _so _sure."

"Hinata's not terrible." Sasuke spoke up, leaning back in his chair and letting his hands fall back behind him. "Problem is, Naruto just does everything she does better. Close quarters combat? Naruto's better. Dodging and reacting? Naruto's better. Chakra reserves? Naruto's better. Planning? Well… you get the idea. She doesn't have any means to attack him with."

"You're not planning on throwing the match, are you?" Haku asked, looking slightly appalled.

"Of course, he's not." Sakura spoke up, as if it was completely obvious. "As if that wouldn't destroy her pride in it's own way!"

"S-sorry, I just-"

"No," Sakura sighed, running her hand through her hair. "I'm sorry, it's my fault. You were just worried as well. I think I'm a little on edge about my own fight as well."

"Is it because of what Ino told you?" Sasuke asked, looking over at Sakura.

"Ino-san?" Haku's head turned so fast that it audibly cracked, making the entire table wince as the boy massaged it. "W-what's she up to?"

"Great save, Brat." Zabuza sighed, rubbing his temples as he did. "Great save."

"Yeah, I went to console her yesterday at the flower shop, and Ino told me about her fight with Gaara," After a second, Sakura clarified. "Gaara is the boy I'm facing in my third exam fight."

"Oh," Haku nodded. "Okay."

"Is he strong?" Iruka spoke up, taking a sip of his water as he did.

"I don't know, according to Team 8, he killed a few people in the forest, but even then, I don't have any more information than that. Ino surrendered immediately when she fought him, apparently because, when she entered into his mind, she found a giant monster inside of him."

It felt like Naruto's stomach, directly above his seal, had a bucket of ice poured onto it. He gasped loudly, drawing everyone's attention towards him.

"Naruto?" Sasuke looked towards him worriedly. "You alright?"

The feeling hadn't subsided, but it had dissipated somewhat, allowing Naruto to simply grin and bear it, pretending to be completely fine.

"Yeah, I'm good." He lied out of his teeth, looking back towards Sakura to divert the attention away from himself. "What were you saying?"

"Right…" The girl eyed him suspiciously, but eventually continued. "According to her, it was a giant creature made out of… well, she said it was a giant sand raccoon, but that sounds a bit ridiculous."

_'It's not.' _A voice murmured from within his seal.

"It's not…" He spoke without meaning to.

Once more, everyone turned towards him, giving him an odd look.

"I'm not sure what it means, but… the moment you said that, I got this weird feeling coming from my seal…" Naruto tried to articulate his thoughts, though it didn't seem to be working all that well. "I guess… maybe the Nine-Tails' knows something?"

"That's an awfully harsh assumption." Zabuza laughed harshly as he turned towards him, gesturing towards Naruto's 4 finished bowls of ramen. "You sure you didn't just get a super coincidental stomachache?"

He nodded, completely serious, and for once his feelings seemed to reach the man across from him, for Zabuza's eyes widened momentarily, before he suddenly sat straighter, taller.

"Then in that case, let's take this conversation elsewhere." He tilted his head towards the Ramen chefs, who, even if they were trying to make themselves scarce, were at most 4 or 5 feet away from them. "We can go find that girl Ino and Naruto can ask her about it directly." The man sighed. "Gods know Haku will like it."

They all nodded, Iruka paying for all of their meals as they headed out, much to the man's distaste.

"Aren't you a working adult ninja?" The teacher chided, pointing his finger into the face of one of the world's most dangerous Jonin. "You can't even pay for your kid's meal?"

"Haku ain't my kid." Zabuza corrected harshly, getting in the teacher's face. "And you said you were treating, did you not?"

Despite what one might've expected, Iruka didn't back down, instead leaning into the man, despite being an inch or two shorter.

"I told Naruto and his team that I would treat them."

"Well unfortunately for you, I've been drafted into 'Naruto's team'. That means you're paying for all of us."

"And that boy?" Iruka pointed at Haku, who seemed to look back and forth between the two, completely confused as to what was going on.

"Uhm, I can pay for the meal, sir." The Ice-user spoke awkwardly.

"No, I treated you."

"But you just said-"

"I said that this man-" Iruka pointed at Zabuza, his finger perhaps an inch from the man's face. "Should've paid for you. I did not, however, mean to imply that you should pay for yourself."

"This is confusing." Naruto spoke quietly.

"Agreed." The other members of Team 7 echoed.

After a few minutes, and more than a few more attempts from Haku to simply pay for his and Zabuza's share of the meal, all of which went unaccepted, The demon of the Mist let out the heftiest sigh Naruto had ever heard, and shoved a few hundred yen into Iruka's waiting hands.

"And so the saga of Iruka Sensei getting the world's most famous assassin to pay for his own ramen comes to a close." Naruto bowed towards the two, as did Sakura and Sasuke. "Truly, we have witnessed the end of an era."

"Can it, you three!"

/-/

"Hello! Welcome to the Yamanaka – Oh, hey Sakura!"

"Hey Ino!" Sakura called out as she waved back to her friend, stepping inside of the small flower shop, flanked on both sides by Naruto and Sasuke, and followed shortly by Zabuza and Haku, Iruka having gone home for the night.

"What'cha all doing?" The girl asked as she vaulted the counter, taking a few steps over towards them before stopping in her tracks, an almost malicious smile spreading across her face as she linked her hands behind her back. "Oh, how are you today, Haku?"

The boy in question went about as red as one could, sputtering out something that very well may have been a greeting, but for all intents and purposes came out as a serious of choked gasps.

Ino giggled, which in turn made Haku's face somehow redder, but a second later, Zabuza stepped in front of him, both shielding his brat from further embarrassment, and allowing them to finally get to the topic at hand.

After hearing what they had to say about Naruto's own experience, Ino seemed perplexed.

"I'll be honest with you, I've already told Sakura all there was to tell." Ino rubbed her chin with one hand, trying to come up with anything that she could to help them out. "I encountered a monster in the boy's head, I screamed and exited immediately. He attacked me afterwards, but I don't think it was related to that monster at all." She paused for a second. "Yeah, that's about it unfortunately."

"Hmph," Zabuza muttered from the back wall. "Not a lot to go off of, is it?" He turned back towards Naruto, eyeing the boy curiously. "Well, kid? Get anything out of that?"

He tried to search his mind, ran his hand over his seal, but in the end, nothing came of it. There was no sudden flash of information as he'd been hoping, and instead he was met only with silence.

"No… I didn't." He admitted with a disappointed sigh, looking back up towards everyone with an apologetic smile. "Sorry, guys, looks like I wasted your time."

His friends all laughed at that, which had him a bit confused.

"Honestly, we're not wasting our time, you dummy." Sakura smiled at him, wrapping her arm around his shoulder. "I'm just happy to see Ino, and I'm sure Haku could say the same."

The boy let out a quiet "meep!" before once again disappearing behind his master.

"I'm sure one day he'll be honest with himself." Sakura whispered to him in a not so subtle way.

He felt his mood lift significantly, an easy smile once more settling back on his face.

"I wouldn't count on it if I were you." He whispered back.

"Besides," Sasuke spoke as he walked over to the two of them, looking down at Naruto with a fake annoyed expression. "You've been looking way too cool lately, if you didn't mess up every once in a while, then I'm fairly sure the world would cease to be."

The entire gang laughed at that, sans Zabuza, who was still trying to deal with Haku cowering behind him.

"You've faced down B and A-Ranked Ninja's Haku, and a little girl is the first thing to scare you!?"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about."

Ino herself laughed, muffling it into the side of her hand as she looked over to the three of them.

"So, since you're all here, how about helping me wrap some of the bouquet's for tomorrow's sales?" Ino leaned into them, wrapping her hands together. "Pretty please, you guys?"

Sakura groaned loudly, but otherwise relented, walking behind the counter and grabbing some wrapping paper, muttering all the while about how she shouldn't have come here in the first place, even if Ino was hanging off of her and laughing the entire time.

Sasuke and Naruto themselves did the same, lightly chiding one another on their skills (or lack thereof) regarding flower wrapping. They'd done it many times in the past, Ino was never one to skimp on making her friends help her out, and yet they never seemed to get any better at it.

As they neared the end of the night, however, it seemed they would finally learn new information.

"Oh!" Ino shouted suddenly, turning towards the three of them with an excited smile adorning her features. "I just remembered something else! That thing spoke to me!"

"Really!?" Naruto turned towards her, thrilled to receive anything at all. "What did it say?"

The girl thought for a moment, before looking rather annoyed.

"Aaagh!" Ino ran her hands through her hair, gaze directed at the floor. "I can't remember the words exactly, I'm sorry."

"That's fine, honest." Naruto tried to comfort her, even as Sakura and Sasuke crowded around them. "Do you remember the gist?"

"Yeah, I do." Ino answered. "It was something along the lines of _"Hey, who are you!?""_

_That's... Not a lot to go off of. _Naruto admitted with a mental sigh.

"But... it was odd." The girl continued. "From what I saw, his mouth didn't really move. It was more like... I heard the voice directly in my head."

_Just like me._ Naruto realized with wide eyes.

"Naruto, you getting anything from that?" Sakura asked, hope seeming dim for the girl.

"Yeah, actually."

His friends looked over at him like he was crazy, but the excited smile on his face must've told them something was up, for everyone in the room turned his way, looking tense, but curious.

"I think that whatever's in Gaara's head... Is a creature a lot like the Nine-Tails." Naruto concluded, looking over towards Zabuza. "Hey, Old man-"

"Don't call me that!"

"S-sorry." Naruto apologized, before continuing. "Anyways, have you ever encountered another monster of that nature, or... or heard about one?"

The assassin went quiet for several seconds, evidently considering something. With a worldly sigh, he looked back up at the five of them, eyes hard.

"What I'm about to tell you... Isn't technically a secret. Knowledge of the Tailed Beasts isn't restricted in any real way, in fact, among higher level ninja, it might as well be common knowledge."

_...Tailed beasts? _Naruto thought curiously.

"I won't tell you about the legends, they honestly don't matter at all, but I can tell you that in this land reside nine Tailed Beasts. I, personally, have talked to men who saw the Three-Tails with their own eyes."

"So... Which one of them is the one Ino saw?" Sakura spoke up.

"Honestly, I have no idea based on the information, but we can assume based on the village it came from." Zabuza turned to Ino. "Girlie, you said that Gaara was a member of the Sand Village, correct?

"Y-yeah."

"In that case, you've only really got one option." Zabuza spoke, sighing as he looked around at them all. "Shukaku. The One-Tail."

It was as if his seal agreed, a rumbling in his mind that sounded almost like laughter echoing throughout.

No one spoke for a while as they all contemplated the news. It wasn't exactly a shock to learn the existence of more monsters for Naruto, given that one literally lived in his stomach, but he imagined that, for the other's, it might've been a bit of a surprise.

"What do we do?" Sasuke spoke up, looking towards Zabuza. "Should we take this information to the Hokage?"

"You all," Zabuza pointed to the five of them. "Aren't doing anything. I'll take the information to him, and even then, all I'm taking is a hypothesis, albeit one backed up with some pretty good evidence."

"Thanks, Old Man!"

Zabuza turned back towards him, opened his mouth to speak, and then simply sighed, raising his hand in goodbye as he stepped out of the flower shop, Haku on his heels.

"G-good night, Ino-san."

The girl giggled.

"Good night, Haku."

Once more, the boy let out a small "meep", before rounding the corner and following his master.

"Alright," Sakura spoke up, stretching as she yawned tiredly. "I think we should all follow their example, it's getting awfully late."

"What are you talking about?" Ino spoke curiously, and just a tad maliciously, to her friend.

"Huh?"

Ino held up a few hundred pieces of wrapping paper, along with a makeshift bouquet.

"We've barely even started!"

/-/

Jiraiya sat silently atop one of the leaf's many water tower's, watching the Leaf's young Jinchuuriki make his way back home after a long evening of wrapping flowers and chatting with his friends.

And he'd been forced to watch the entire thing, on the off chance someone tried to attack him.

"Honestly," Jiraiya complained, lying back on the cool metal beneath him. "Saddling me of all people with a simple protection job, how lame."

At the sound of footsteps behind him, he didn't even budge, instead, he turned casually towards them, groaning as he saw one of Danzo's Anbu before him.

"Man, why'd it have to be one of you guys," He rubbed his head, yawning as he did. "You all are never any fun."

"Lord Danzo requests an update on your mission." The man kneeled before him. "You have not once reported to him the entire time you've been in Konoha."

Jiraiya snickered, flipping off the tower and landing in front of the man, looking down at him with a lazy smile.

"And he didn't think that, maybe, just maybe, that was a pattern?"

"My lord has always thought of you as a powerful ninja, but one that does not take his duty seriously enough. Thusly, he asked for a confirmation of-"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it already." Jiraiya took a small scroll out of his coat, quickly jotted down the words 'Nothing to report' and handed it over to the man before him. "There. If he wants anything more, tell him to suck it."

"I will not." The Anbu replied simply, before disappearing off the rooftop.

The Toad Sage sighed, looking back down one final time at his objective, who was now laying in his bed, and snoring rather loudly out of his open window.

"Charming." He deadpanned.

Suddenly, Jiraiya heard a distinct "Ribbit" in the distance, which meant that someone, or something, had breached his perimeter.

That wasn't unexpected, people walked around the streets even in the dead of night, but this one was a different cry, made specifically for a group of very particular ninjas.

His entire posture changed, going from lazy and tired to serious and alert in half a second, coasting along the rooftops at a decently high speed, moving towards where his frog had cried out.

When he arrived, he saw exactly what he'd been hoping for.

"Heh…" Jiraiya laughed confidently as he stared down at his new targets for the evening. "One Zaku Abumi and Dosu Kinuta. I wonder what you're up to?"

/-/

"So, Kin's still recovering after more than a week, and yet here you are, walking along as if you didn't just have your arm blown off." Dosu shot him a look of doubt, one that Zaku couldn't help but wilt under.

"Yeah, well, Orochimaru didn't call her out here." He argued back, turning down an alleyway as he heard the croaking of a frog off in the distance. "He asked the two of us specifically to be there, not a lot we can do to be honest."

His right arm was still in a splint, and from what the doctors had said, it likely would be for quite some time.

"Hmph, I guess you're right." Dosu conceded, sighing wearily as they turned towards a more barren part of the leaf village, through cramped paths and deserted streets.

They finally reached their goal in the form of a worn-down shack. It seemed to have once been used for the creation of alcohol, but that had to have been years and years ago. It looked to have been long since abandoned, but that was fine. It catered to their group's needs nicely.

When they walked inside, they were immediately met by two sound Jonin, who greeted them with a pair of kunai, and immediately searched them. Zaku himself grumbled annoyedly, but otherwise stayed quiet. There was nothing to be done about Orochimaru's cautious nature.

After the ninja's finished and ushered them inside, they were greeted with a small set of stairs that led downwards into the earth. After walking for half a minute, they emerged into a decently large room, perhaps twice the size of the shack they'd been in earlier.

"How nice of the final two to join us."

The raspy voice of Orochimaru echoed within the small metal chamber, and as Zaku and Dosu somewhat nervously took their seats, the former couldn't help a small amount of shock as he spotted a familiar face.

"Wait… Kabuto?" He uttered without meaning to.

"Ah, I see you've noticed, then." Orochimaru's voice rang out, sounding mildly intrigued. "My dearest apologies, but I felt that revealing Kabuto's nature to you before the Second Exam might have inhibited your ability to compete. I'm sure that's no problem at all, is it?"

"Of course not, sir." Dosu bowed, and Zaku followed, having learned his lesson from his arm being broken a few days prior.

His arm having been broken, and then blown off a few days later turned out to be an odd mix of problems, because, from what the doctors had told him, they hadn't been able to completely fix it. They'd done him the favor of sewing parts of his left arm back together as well, and, thank the gods, removing the beetles from underneath his skin.

He shivered just thinking about it, his bravado during the fight a thing of the past now.

Even still, from what they said, it would take many months, along with continued treatments, to bring his right arm back to the point where he could fight with it.

It was a shame, then, that if their plan went off without a hitch, his arm probably wouldn't be getting that treatment. Obviously, Orochimaru had doctors, but they weren't generally the best of the best. You didn't need to work for a maniac if you weren't, likewise, a little off in the head.

As he contemplated this and that, Orochimaru began speaking.

"The invasion of Konoha has, so far, gone as planned. Each of you has a role. Most, if not all of you, will be acting as front-line fighters. You will storm the gates, scale the walls, or summon creatures that will do it for you." Orochimaru's commanders all nodded towards him. "This will be a two-pronged assault, attacking the main gate with a massive summon, while also sending half of our forces around the back, scaling the Hokage monument, and raining fire from the back, attacking the civilian encampments and causing mass panic."

A shiver ran down Zaku's spine at those words. He silently prayed that he wouldn't be assigned to the unit in charge of murdering civilians.

"However, there are a few people present at this table who will have more involved roles in this mission." Orochimaru first gazed towards Kabuto. "You, of course, already know your role, correct, Kabuto?"

"Of course, Lord Orochimaru." Kabuto bowed, smiling maliciously as he did.

_Y'know, _Zaku thought to himself, eyes narrowed slightly. _They could do to be less obviously evil._

Orochimaru went down a makeshift list, telling them all about their roles and what they'd be doing. Most weren't at all complicated. Assist with either the frontal assault, or the rear assault.

"And lastly, you two."

Zaku stood ramrod straight as the man addressed he and Dosu, smiling in that way that seemed to pick at his very being.

"You are, obviously, being entered in to the main competition. You will have a variety of jobs, from buying the plan time if we need it with your fights, to speeding the plan up by conceding early. You will, also, be reporting in from time to time on what you're able to find out about the arena. Security, Attendees, fighters, that sort of thing. Yours is a role largely supportive in nature."

"Right." The two of them responded.

Orochimaru took a while longer to finish outlining the plan, setting them all up with a variety of jobs, each unique, though some sounding much less important. Zaku couldn't help but notice just how minor their role was, it felt like they could've been killed and Orochimaru would have barely been hindered at all.

_Perhaps that's the idea._

As the meeting finally finished, Orochimaru called out to the two of them.

"Oh, you two, meet with me after this is over, I have a job specifically for the both of you."

A small insidious core of fear bloomed inside Zaku's heart, and he realized in that moment that, if Orochimaru desired it, then they would die right here. Surrounded on all sides by enemies, he could do whatever he pleased.

_No point in worrying about it. _A part of him that was sounding far braver than he felt spoke out. _He could've killed us at any time, why would he do it now after taking the time to explain all of that to us?_

The rational logic there made him feel just a bit better, and so it was with heart beating a million times a minute that he and Dosu walked towards the man after the meeting was over, facing him down at the back of the room as he smiled at them.

Oddly enough, the Sannin was holding a small toad in his hands.

"Well, you two seem to be adapting rather nicely." The man put a hand over his mouth, his eyebrows racing in mock concern. "Ah, Zaku, how has the arm been doing?"

Anger filled him, but he couldn't let it show. Instead, he gritted his teeth and smiled.

"It's been doing much better, thank you for asking, sir."

Orochimaru smiled, clearly amused at his response, and then apparently decided to get back to the topic at hand.

"Now, the two of you have been doing rather well lately, so I felt it was the time to approach you with this now." He reached behind him and brought out two flak jackets. "As long as you finish the next mission that I'm about to assign to you, you will each be awarded the rank of Chuunin in the Sound Village, and be awarded greater protections."

_That's…!_

"That's amazing, sir." Dosu spoke simply, bowing his head as he did. "Thank you very much."

"Please, it is of no meaning. You two have really proven yourselves these past few days."

…There was something wrong there that Zaku couldn't quite catch. He couldn't tell if it was present, or if it was missing, but something was out of place.

"So, Lord Orochimaru." Zaku cut in, eyes narrowed in a distrusting way. "What is this mission you'd be having us do?"

"Ah, good of you to ask, Zaku. It's rather simple, actually. You see, there's a certain member of our organization who hasn't been pulling their weight as much recently."

Ice shot up Zaku's spine.

"I'm afraid that they haven't quite met the same level of success as the both of you have, and thusly, they've been deemed unnecessary for the plan to continue." Orochimaru's smile was one filled with such malice, such venom, that Zaku felt himself growing sick just looking at it. "So, I've decided that the two of you will be cleaning up after her."

Zaku's eyes were wide, even as his hands shook.

"Go to Kin Tsuchi," Orochimaru declared. "And dispose of her."

**End Chapter 22**

* * *

**Okay, I'm sorry about this one.**

**Excitement, Thrills! Nintendo Direct is on today, and theoretically there should be some Xenoblade news. If there is, I'll be superdy-duperdy hyped.**

**Next week, Zaku must weigh the importance of the two things he desires, Survival, and friendship. ****Naruto and the gang continue to search for information about the Tailed Beasts. ****A****nd a certain someone makes his reappearance after like 15 chapters of being absent.**

**Anyways, see you all next week!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Heyo.**

**Last chapter's set-up culminates in this chapter, and I've been wanting to write a lot of the stuff here for a good 10 weeks now, so this is pretty hype for me.**

**Nothing much to say, let's begin!**

* * *

**Chapter 23: All to Live  
**

* * *

As the sun shined through his window, Naruto squinted, rubbing his eyes and sitting up as he yawned into his hand.

Last night had been fun. Exhausting, sure, they'd wrapped bouquet's well past any reasonable time-frame, but fun in it's own way. It was always nice for the 4 of them to get time to talk, especially with how hard that had been getting since they'd become real ninja.

He stretched his arms above his head, trying to shake off some of the grogginess he was already feeling. As he looked towards his left, He couldn't help but notice a small toad sitting on his pillow, perhaps an inch or so away from where his head had been a minute or two ago.

It ribbited at him.

_Huh. _He thought to himself simply.

_This is a pretty weird dream._

He reached out and touched the creature with his left hand, poking it in the cheek.

It ribbited in response.

_I'm getting this odd feeling that I'm not dreaming._

He reached over and gingerly took the toad in both hands, causing it to ribbit once more, and walked over to his door. It didn't fight with him as he did, which he felt was a bit odd on principle. Opening the door with one hand, he walked down the steps to the bottom of the apartment complex, and then placed the frog in a small flower patch he found.

"Well, it's been fun, tiny frog." Naruto wished the amphibian well, before turning back around and heading out towards the hospital, where they'd all agreed to meet last night. "But I've got places to be, so… Have a good life, I guess."

A second later, he felt a weight on his shoulder, and turned his head to see that the toad had taken up residence upon him.

"Oi." He whispered, still feeling groggy.

The toad gave only a single 'Ribbit' before seeming to relax, sitting down on his shoulder and, if he wasn't mistaken, falling asleep.

"Ugh," Naruto sighed, yawning once more into his hand. "I'm too tired for this."

/-/

"Naruto, why is there a frog on your shoulder?" Was the first thing he heard as he stepped in to walk next to Sasuke and Sakura.

"Good question." Was his only reply.

/-/

"Naruto," The recently discharged Kakashi sounded confused as he walked over to the three of them. "Why is there a frog on your shoulder?"

"Good question." The three members of Team 7 answered.

Kakashi stared at them all a bit oddly.

"Why do I feel like you all rehearsed that?"

"Because we did." Sakura answered simply.

Their teacher laughed, covering his mouth with his left hand as he looked back at the clock on the wall behind him.

"Well, we've got a few hours, I'd like to be able to see how far you guys have come while I was away, how about we get some light training in?"

"Pass." Sakura waved her hand, looking deathly pale. "I've got to go meet Anko sensei at twelve, and I refuse to train before training _again_. I'm fairly sure I'd just die."

"I'm down." Sasuke said as he raised his hand.

"Same here." Naruto exclaimed.

"Alright, then we can meet up at the third training ground in-"

"Actually, Kakashi, I'm afraid I'll have to veto that."

Everyone turned towards the sound of the new voice, and Naruto's eyes widened as he laid eyes upon the tallest man he'd ever seen. He was a veritable white-maned giant, though the disarmingly easy smile on his face made him look much more friendly than he otherwise would've.

"Oh, Master Jiraiya," Kakashi asked, smiling back at the man under his mask. "What are you doing here?"

"Here to get an entirely new set of problems." The man said, rolling his eyes as he smiled back at their sensei.

Naruto wanted to ask what that was supposed to mean, but before he could, the frog from his shoulder was snatched away.

"Thanks for the hard work." The giant said to the small amphibian in his hand.

The creature gave a small ribbit in response, before the new ninja opened up his coat and pocketed the toad.

"Hey! That was my frog!" Naruto exclaimed, finding himself weirdly annoyed to have lost his companion for all of 30 minutes.

"First off, it's a toad." The man named Jiraiya spoke, kneeling down in front of him and still, rather annoyingly, managing to be taller than Naruto was. "And second off, It's my toad."

"It was sleeping on my pillow!"

"It was not sleeping, it was doing its job as a guardian and protecting you."

"It wasn't guarding anything! All it was doing was getting it's dirty mucus on my bed!"

"That was an unfortunate side effect of it guarding you!" The giant exclaimed, before seemingly realizing that he was arguing with a twelve-year-old. "Anyways, I'm actually going to have to cancel that training, Kakashi, on account of having to take this brat myself."

"EH!?" Naruto exclaimed, turning towards his teacher with a scornful expression.

"Ah, so the Hokage finally has you stepping in, eh?"

"Yeah, annoyingly enough, he called me up last night after I finished that covert op, said it was finally time."

"Sheesh, he couldn't have waited until I had a bit of time with my own students?"

"Hah, sorry about that."

"Hold on!" Naruto shouted, causing the two to look back at him oddly. "Just what the hell are you talking about? Kakashi Sensei, are you really gonna' abandon me again!?"

A small look of guilt passed by the scarecrow's face as he held his hands up before him.

"Honestly, Naruto, it really is just a string of bad luck for me. I fully intend to teach all of you as soon as I can, but the timing's just haven't been lining up all that well."

Naruto shot the man a disappointed glare.

"And besides, Master Jiraiya is one of the strongest ninja to ever exist, he's more capable than I, surely, to teach you some super powerful Jutsu."

Sakura pounded her fist into her hand, making a small "Aha!" as she did.

"I knew I remembered your name! You're one of the three Sannin, aren't you?"

"Wait, like… 'Orochimaru' Sannin?"

Jiraiya sighed at that, running a hand through his hair and whining under his breath about how he always got forgotten.

"Yes, like 'Orochimaru' Sannin."

Naruto blinked.

"And you want to teach me?"

"Want is a strong word."

Naruto turned back towards Kakashi, bowing slightly before him.

"It's been an honor, Kakashi Former-Sensei."

"Oi!"

/-/

"Hey, Anko Sensei?"

"Sup'?"

"Do you think… Maybe you could teach me some sort of… strong or secret Jutsu?"

Anko turned back towards her student, a bit curious.

"Why the sudden interest?"

Sakura gripped her shorts in her hands, crumpling them as she did.

"It's… well, it might sound stupid-"

"Nearly everything sounds stupid when you put it into words." Anko spoke, an easy smile falling into place as she leaned back, lying down on the ground below her and gazing up at the cloudy sky. "So spill, what kind of stupid thing have you got for me today?"

"Y'know, you're not a very nice person."

"You're just now figuring this out?"

Sakura smirked as she laid back as well, letting go of her pants and letting her hands spread out to the side, like she was trying to make a snow-angel in the dead of summer.

"Naruto and Sasuke… they're both getting 1 on 1 training with some pretty crazy guys… But especially Naruto! He's getting taught by Lord Jiraiya of all people!"

"I don't know if I'd call him Lord, but sure."

"I can't help but think that Naruto and Sasuke are going to learn some super powerful new Jutsu, and totally wreck the exams, all the while I'm stuck behind, once again." The girl sighed as she finished explaining, letting the silence give way to the wind as it coursed through their tiny clearing, rustling the leaves, and sending many to spiral towards the earth.

They'd decided to head to the seventh training ground, which, aside from being more hill-infested than the third, largely shared it's content with the latter. They'd chosen a rather open clearing where they could easily spar, but one that still had a few hills. Anko had said that such a formation would be good to practice around, as it got Sakura used to fighting in different environments.

It was a beautiful area, marred slightly by her own gloomy atmosphere.

Sakura heard the sound of footsteps coming towards her and turned to her right to see Anko walking over, sitting down a foot or so away from her and reaching out with her hand.

The Jonin lightly bopped her on the nose.

"Hey, c'mon," The woman complained. "That wasn't stupid at all."

"W-what?"

Anko smiled reassuringly.

"You said that was going to be stupid, and yet here you are, having a legitimate concern."

She glared at her, but the woman only laughed in response, standing up and offering her hand out for Sakura to do the same.

After another second or so to get herself ready, she took the hand, and let Anko haul her to her feet.

"Look, from what I've been able to gather from talking to you, getting left behind is kind of a big fear for you."

Sakura whined slightly under her breath, but conceded the point.

"But honestly, you don't have to worry so much. You're strong, truly." The woman walked up to her, drew a kunai out of her back pocket, and handed it to her. "Now c'mon, let's spar, and then, after that, I'll teach you something cool."

Sakura's eyes lit up as she looked up at the woman, smiling despite her earlier mood.

The clouds in the sky seemed to part, ever so slightly.

/-/

Sasuke couldn't help but be slightly uncomfortable as he stood across from Kakashi. He had nothing against the man, truly. In fact, given the chance to know him better, Sasuke was fairly sure they would have a much better relationship.

Unfortunately, it seemed like every time the man was going to open up to them, something happened. Either they were attacked, or someone got turned into a demonic beast, or he overused his Mangekyou Sharingan and had to be hospitalized.

_The Mangekyou Sharingan… _Sasuke thought as he readied his weapon, watching his teacher do the same. _Just how did you acquire such a thing, Kakashi Hatake?_

Back in the Land of Waves, he'd held off on asking about the man's Sharingan. Both because he hadn't wanted to make things awkward, the man hadn't seemed like he wanted to tell them where he got it, and also because he'd, admittedly, been a bit scared.

All the information he had about the Mangekyou came from his brother, and that information was far from good.

Even if he was fairly sure that the man hadn't murdered anyone to get it, there was a part of him that just couldn't be satisfied with that.

"We'll make this relatively simple." Kakashi called out, spinning his kunai on his finger. "You go all out, I'll counter it. Don't expect to beat me, but feel free to try."

"Right." Sasuke called back, still a bit distracted.

_Still, _Sasuke thought._ A Mangekyou on it's own means that the user, or former user, killed someone close to them._

_Was it Kakashi's pain, or the owner's own that led to that eye's evolution?_ He wondered idly as he and Kakashi began their duel, immediately drawing on his Sharingan as Kakashi had told him to, going all out from the very start. _If what Itachi said is true, then one would have to kill their closest friend to achieve it…_

_Did Kakashi commit such a sin?_

The two of them fought for a few minutes, Sasuke giving ground almost the entire time, despite the fact that he possessed a three tomoe Sharingan. Every time he thought he had the man, he was blasted back by some unknown jutsu, or he was grabbed from behind by a shadow clone, or the Kakashi he caught turned out to be a mere log.

It wasn't long before he was knocked back for the first time, already feeling the aches and pains of the day course through him.

"Well, it's good to see how much you've improved, Sasuke."

He let out a groan as he sat up, rubbing his arm where he'd been struck. It was already bruising, though that was, quite honestly, normal for all of them.

Still, the pain in his ribs had died down considerably.

"So, the medical ninja's did a good job?"

"Yeah, they did." Sasuke answered, running his hand down his side, and pushing lightly against where his ribs had been broken by Orochimaru. There was a dull pain, but it was miniscule compared to what it had been. "I'm just glad I'll be able to fight next month."

"Yeah, well, even still, you've got to return to the hospital so they can continue treatments. The medical ninja's are amazing, but even they can't fix a break in a single trip."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Sasuke waved his hand, dismissing the man's concerns. "Trust me, Naruto and Sakura have already drilled that into me, I don't need you to do it too."

Kakashi laughed, raising his hand to his mouth to try and muffle it slightly. After a few seconds, he retook his same position, holding his kunai out to Sasuke.

"You know how to copy Jutsu with that Sharingan, correct?"

"Yeah, I'm guessing you want me to do so?"

"Yep. Come at me anytime, I'll give you a few new techniques to copy with that eye of yours."

Sasuke smirked, feeling confidence course through him, even if, in the back of his head, he knew he couldn't really beat Kakashi.

He charged forward.

/-/

It was a while later before Sasuke fell to the ground, entirely spent.

Kakashi had, true to his word, been an opponent far beyond his ability. The man's experience proved to be too much, even for the three tomoe that had grown in his Sharingan.

"Well, did you get some good Jutsu out of it at least?"

Sasuke looked over at the man, feeling a bit of annoyance pass through his gaze. The older man laughed when he saw it, sitting down next to him and offering a small bottle of water, which the Uchiha accepted gratefully.

He took great gulps, downing the entire thing in less than 10 seconds, gasping as he tore it away from his lips.

_I was able to copy a few water-style Jutsu, along with a single wind-style, but I'm not sure how any of those are supposed to help me._ Sasuke thought with a small frown as he panted. _I certainly don't specialize in either of those types, so why should I learn them?_

"Y'know, after that much exercise, you're supposed to pace yourself." Kakashi's eyebrow was raised, showing perhaps a hint of amusement. "Drink in moderation, and all that jazz."

"Shut up." He breathed out, taking deep, rasping breaths as he tried to regain his energy. "You took maybe three hits the entire day, and you sit over here lecturing me."

"Took three hits?" Kakashi smirked down at him, looking incredibly smug. "Sasuke. I let you have three hits."

He glared at the man, but couldn't refute the words, even if he wanted to.

_You must kill… Your closest friend._

Itachi's words rang through him, as they often did, and as he looked up at his teacher, headband drawn down over his left eye, he couldn't quite resist the temptation to ask…

"How did you get that Sharingan, Sensei?"

The inquiry seemed to shock the man, for he almost immediately sat down, eye a bit wide as he looked towards Sasuke.

_No… His eyes aren't looking at me. _Sasuke realized. _They're looking through me._

"From a friend." Kakashi admitted after the silence grew overbearing. "A guy named Obito Uchiha."

Sasuke quickly searched for the name in his memory, but it came up blank.

"I… can't say I've ever heard of him."

Kakashi breathed out in a way that could've been perceived as a laugh.

"Yeah, you wouldn't have… The Uchiha were never kind to their black sheep."

Sasuke waited for the man to continue, looking up at him with a curious expression. Kakashi must've seen it, too, for he laughed again, this time more alive than before.

"You look like you expect me to elaborate."

"It would certainly help me trust you more." Sasuke admitted, getting a look of confusion in response. "That Mangekyou Sharingan you possess, I know how one gets it."

Kakashi seemed to be saddened by those words, as if Sasuke had somehow lost some small bit of innocence because of that knowledge, but it had never mattered to him.

The day his entire clan had been slaughtered was the day he'd become an adult.

"I suppose there isn't much reason to hide it." Kakashi seemed to conclude a few seconds later, sighing as he sat down next to a large tree, bracing himself against it. "But be warned that it's a long… and sad story."

"That's fine." Sasuke spoke a second later. "I'll still listen."

Kakashi smiled, before, seemingly content, he began to tell his story.

"It was an awfully long time ago, at the dawn of the Third Shinobi World War…"

/-/

Zaku walked without feeling as he silently flowed through the Leaf Village's streets. His face was pale, paler than he felt it had been in a long time, and his right arm burned, as if the entire limb had fallen asleep.

_"Go to Kin Tsuchi and dispose of her."_

Orochimaru's words rang through his head, even a day after they'd been spoken to him.

He and Dosu had been given two days to kill Kin, meaning that tonight, for better or worse, would be the moment of truth.

And Zaku still couldn't figure out what it was he wanted.

He looked up in a daze, noting the sun had finally fallen from the sky, and knowing, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he wasn't ready for what was to come.

The three of them, Dosu, Kin, and him, had been given three rooms at a small apartment complex in the back of the Leaf Village. It was quiet, but it served their purposes well enough, and acted as a decent cover for anyone sniffing around their information.

'See?' The rooms seemed to say. 'Just your average Genin team.'

He felt that, under normal circumstances, he may've laughed at his own joke. At the moment, he barely even breathed.

_I have to make my decision. Not just eventually, but soon._

That thought terrified him.

He was perhaps a block away from their apartments, and even if he wanted nothing more than to run away, his feet wouldn't stop carrying him forward, as if silently telling him that he had no choice, no other option than to face this head on.

_I already knew that. _Zaku thought to himself. _No need to reiterate it._

He found himself suddenly standing before the apartments stairs, climbing them without really meaning to. He found himself at their floor, walking down the hallway towards whatever awaited them all.

He found himself in front of Kin's room, staring into Dosu's eyes.

"Yo." His partner spoke quietly, almost whispering.

He tried to muster up the energy to say something, anything, but found that words simply wouldn't form. Instead, he nodded.

"Yeah." Dosu said a second later, seemingly grasping what it was he wanted to communicate. "I feel the same way."

As he contemplated what to do, Zaku couldn't help but idly notice a frog, sitting gingerly atop the steel railing.

It seemed to be staring right at them.

"I suppose there's nothing left to do… other than proceed." Dosu spoke after a while, moving his hand over to the door.

It stopped after a second, hesitating, before, finally, plunging down and knocking 4 times.

The few seconds that followed seemed to last an eternity to Zaku. Time stood still, the birds in the small park behind them no longer chirped. The insects stopped their calls, and the winds themselves seemed to halt.

And then the door opened, and a breath Zaku hadn't known he'd been holding seemed to explode out of him, and he nearly fell right where he was standing.

"Oh, hey you two." Kin spoke simply, wearing not her mission outfit, but one that was, instead, rather girlish in appearance. It was a simple dress, one which seemed to prefer comfort over style, but even still gave off an elegant air. "Need something?"

Any words he could've spoken seemed to catch not in his throat, but in his head. What was there to say to someone you were told to kill.

_Just do it now. _A primal part of him cried out. _It'll hurt less if you kill her now. Get it over with._

He didn't so much as move, though luckily for him, Dosu did.

"Yeah, actually, would you mind if we came in? There were some developments in the plan that we wanted to go over with you."

Kin's eyes widened momentarily, before she smiled subtly, stepping back and, effectively, inviting them in.

The moment her back was turned, Zaku saw Dosu begin to move. A concealed kunai, one which he'd kept beneath his coat, was drawn, and, in an instant, was half-way to Kin's unsuspecting form.

Once more, time seemed to stand still.

_"Isn't this what you want?" _A voice in his head seemed to reason with him. _"You get to survive, and you don't even have to dirty your hands. Just let Dosu do it."_

_That's… that's true._

The knife began to move once more, flowing through the air slowly, yet surely.

_I could… just… let it happen._

The knife inched ever closer.

_Yeah! Yeah, that's perfect._

_"…rd!"_

_I'll just…_

_"…ward!"_

_Sit back and… watch her die._

_"COWARD!"_

His hand shot out, gripping Dosu's wrist with such a fervor that, for a moment, he feared he'd broken it. The boy turned towards him, eyes wide and filled with confusion and fury, but Zaku wouldn't give him a moment.

"Hey, Kin?" He called out to the girl before them.

Instantly, Dosu's eyes widened extremely, and he drew his weapon back, pocketing it once more as Kin turned back to look at the two of them, eyes curious.

"What's up?"

"When'd you get that dress?" Zaku asked. "I don't think I've seen you wear it before."

"Oh, this?" The girl performed a tiny motion that made the dress spin ever so slightly, smiling embarrassedly as she did. "I bought it with the pay I'd been saving up over the last few months. I know I probably shouldn't have, but I saw it in the shopping district a few blocks from here, and just couldn't get my eyes off it."

"Heh, I guess you've been enjoying it around here?" He spoke as innocently as he could, stepping into the space and, more importantly, between Kin and Dosu.

The apartment wasn't particularly large, perhaps the space of your average living room. It did, however, have a tiny kitchen in the corner, and two rooms off to the back, which looked to be a bathroom and a bedroom. There were very few personal touches in the space at all, largely due to the fact that the rooms, aside from functioning as places to sleep, went largely unused.

"Yeah, it's had it's up's and down's, namely me almost dying in that crappy forest, but other than that… I've actually been enjoying it here a lot." The girl smiled, before turning back around and walking into the makeshift kitchen in the back of the space. "How long are you guys staying? Would you like anything to drink?"

"No," Dosu began, finally entering the room. "We won't be staying very-"

"I'll take green tea, if you have it." Zaku called out, trying to ignore the death glare that Dosu was giving him.

He received a small laugh back from Kin.

"Alright, one green tea. Dosu, you good then?"

"Yes," Dosu said, looking Zaku directly in the eye with a cold stare. "I'm fine, thank you."

"Alright, just give me a few minutes then, I'll bring that right out!"

"Thanks!" Zaku called out, before turning to look back at his teammate.

"What the hell are you trying to pull!?" Dosu whispered aggressively at him, leaning towards him in the small chair. "We have our assignment, do we not? Why stop me from accomplishing it."

_Because that's far too cold. _Zaku wanted to say. _Because she's just a kid like us, stuck in a bad situation, and robbed of the chance of a normal life because of Orochimaru's whims. Because she's our teammate, someone we've been stuck with for almost a year now._

"Who knows?" Zaku said instead, leaning back into his chair, and thinking at a mile a minute.

_Alright, I've bought myself some time to think, but other than that, what do I have?_ His thoughts were restless as he watched Kin try to prepare his drink, at first trying to make a single cup, but ultimately failing, and, with a small pout upon her face, resorting to making an entire pot. _The moment Kin gets over here, Dosu's going to try and kill Kin again, and at that point, I need to pick a side._

_"You can't pick a side. You have to somehow save them both."_

It was the same voice from earlier, the one that had called him a coward. Only now could he tell just who it was.

_"Yeah." _He called out to the voice_. "I know, Reis. Trust in me."_

A warm feeling covered him, before disappearing. He knew, deep down, that the Reis he'd spoken to wasn't the real one. That boy had died many years ago. But the ideal of Reis that he held in his heart, the kindhearted boy who would never betray his friends, still held him to that same standard.

He wouldn't allow himself to fail those close to him.

Not again.

"Sheesh, finally!"

Kin's voice interrupted his thoughts. It seemed she'd finished preparing the tea, which meant he was out of time.

"Sorry that took so long." Kin called over to them, laughing as she did. "I tried to make a single cup for you, but that was a disaster, so, well, long story short, I made a full pot, so if you end up wanting a refill, rest assured I've got you covered."

"M-much obliged." Zaku spoke, his voice once again sounding weak.

"You alright?" Kin seemed to pick up on it, looking at him with a vague sense of concern.

"Yeah, just got something in my throat." He took the tea in front of him and gave it a small sip, careful not to obscure his vision.

He was keeping track of Dosu out of the corner of his vision, but the boy didn't look to be making any moves. He was watching the two of them carefully as well, and when their eyes met briefly, he turned away, instead watching the wall behind them.

_Alright. _Zaku pondered._ What do I say?_

"So, what did you guys want to tell me?"

Dosu's posture changed, he went from completely relaxed to ready to jump up at a moments notice. It struck Zaku immediately that he had mere seconds, if that, to act.

And so he went for, perhaps, the riskiest of all the moves he could've pulled.

"Orochimaru wants you dead."

The room went deadly silent, as both Kin and Dosu turned to look at him with eyes as wide as saucers, though obviously for quite different reasons.

"W-what?" Kin spoke up, seemingly at a loss for words as she reached behind her, reaching for a kunai that wasn't there. "What are you talking about?"

"Last night-" Dosu tried to stop him, grabbing at his arm and giving him a look, but he shook the other boy off. "Last night, we were called by Orochimaru. He promised us the rank of Chuunin, and greater protections to go along with it, and all we had to do was kill you to do it."

The girl seemed to barely process that, her hands shaking as she reached down with one and took a drink of her tea, eyes frantically panning across the both of them, and towards the door in front of her. Perhaps it was the desperation, but she didn't try and mask her intended escape route very well at all.

"Why tell me this, huh!?" The girl's voice suddenly became aggressive, drawing a kitchen knife from the counter behind her and holding it out towards the two of them. "Rubbing it in my face before you kill me!?"

"Because I want the three of us to escape together."

Once more all eyes were on him. Both of his teammates had stopped struggling, had stopped looking like they could attack one another at any moment. They looked towards him with a look that he couldn't quite describe. It was at once hope and despair.

"The hell…" Kin muttered quietly to herself, collapsing on the chair below her, and letting the knife in her hand fall from her grip. "You could've started with that…"

"The hell are you playing at, Zaku?"

He turned towards Dosu, who was looking at him like he was insane.

To be fair to the man, he could understand how he might sound it.

"I'm saying that we can escape. Right here, right now. We can free ourselves from Orochimaru's grasp, and side ourselves with people who will protect us from him."

"What the… Zaku, we're criminals." Dosu smacked his hand to his stomach, directly over his heart. "We aren't going to be taken in by anyone, let alone the Leaf Village."

"Wait," Kin began, disbelief flooding into her voice. "You were planning on defecting to the Leaf?"

"Yeah, that's the idea." He admitted.

Dosu stopped for a second, before, with a small chuckle, he began to laugh wildly, almost crazily.

"And just why the hell would they let us do that!?" The boy shouted, fury, and a small bit of madness working its way across his face. "Even supposing that no one catches us as we make our way to the Hokage's tower, which they certainly will, what do we have to offer them to take us in?"

"Last night's meeting."

Dosu's face went from crazed to contemplative in a matter of moments, suddenly considering the new element he hadn't seen before.

"If we approach them with that information, I think the Hokage might choose to shelter us." Zaku spoke, eyes hardened with resolve.

"But…" This time, it was Kin speaking up. "What happens if we give him this… this information, and then he just kills us anyways?"

"I considered that, but I'm willing to bet that won't happen." Zaku spoke confidently, now ready to confront the two of them with the full plan. "Orochimaru has always called the Third Hokage 'soft'. In terms of general policy, and even just demeanor, we've all seen him at the Chuunin Exams site, he seems like an upstanding man. I think that if we came to him with all of this, he'd help us."

"Evidence!" Dosu spoke, massaging his skull with his hands. "What evidence do you have that he will!?"

"Last month, he took in two drifters from the Mist Village. Zabuza Momochi and his son." Zaku spoke, using some of the intel he'd gathered as part of Orochimaru's initial mission. "I don't know why, but if he was willing to offer a position for one as bloodstained as the Demon of the Mist, then surely for kids like us, he'd be even more forgiving."

Dosu laughed, but it was a sedated, quiet thing.

"More conjecture… no evidence…" The boy muttered under his breath. "We're going to die…we're going to die, and it's going to be your fault."

"So, you'd rather Kin die, than risk your own life?" He asked, knowing the answer.

"Yes." Dosu looked up at him, eyes narrowed. "I would."

"Coward."

Dosu laughed at that, a dry, mirthless laugh that rang completely hollow.

"Call me what you want, but at the end of the day, I survive." Dosu spoke as he looked towards Kin. "Whatever else happens, happens."

"Try it, and I'll stop you." Zaku spoke as the boy leaned forward, about to try and cut Kin down once again.

The girl seemed to realize that her life was once more endangered, for she took the knife off of the floor and held it in front of her, moving it from one of them to the other, silently threatening the both of them.

"Heh, it's always about Kin, isn't it?" Dosu spoke dryly as he turned towards him, eyes narrowed in anger. "Your little crush seems to have really flared up these past few weeks."

Zaku sighed as Kin gave him an odd look, but he ignored her. Whatever the other two may've thought about his own interests didn't matter right now.

"I'm not going to lose anyone, never again. I promised myself that." Zaku's words seemed to confuse the other two, but they kept listening anyways. "Each of us grew up on the streets. We were orphans, outcasts, thrown bits and scraps and expected to make a life out of them."

Dosu snorted.

"So what?"

"So that means if we're planning on surviving, we need to stick together."

"Bullshit." The boy uttered, standing up and moving towards him. "I survived just fine on my own. I made it for 10 years before that bastard snatched me up, and I didn't need anyone's help."

"And what now?" Zaku exclaimed louder than he'd meant to. "What happens when you survive this whole ordeal, but the two of us-" He gestured to Kin and himself. "Are dead!? Do you really think you'll be able to keep staying alive in that bastards circle?"

"I've done just fine so far, have I not?"

"And do you think you've done that alone!?" He pressured, standing up and getting in the other boy's face. "Do you honestly think that the three of us working together isn't what led to our success?"

The other boy headbutted him, knocking him back into his chair, and for a second, there was no noise, only the harsh breathing of the both of them, with Kin sitting in the back of the room, her blade still raised towards the two of them, untrusting.

"You're so full of shit Zaku." Dosu massaged his head where theirs had collided, looking down at him with disdain. "When you fought that Bug kid, wasn't survival the thing that pushed you on!? Wasn't that what let you get back up!?"

He tried to remember back to those moments, but everything was so hazy.

What had it been that brought him out of that haze?

_"GET UP!"_

_Dosu's voice…_

_Reis…_

"No." He responded simply, looking up at him and smirking lightly, despite the pain pounding in his skull. "I got up for the two of you."

Dosu's eyes went wide, even as he took a step backwards, snarling.

"BULLSHIT!"

"It's not bullshit!" He shouted back, rising, and meeting the boy once again. "When I was nearly dying on the ground, it was your damned shouting that brought me back! And when I got caught in that swarm, it was the thought that you guys would get hurt that let me power through and fire off that last shot, so don't you dare tell me that what we have means nothing, because I know damn well that isn't true!"

Dosu stumbled backwards as Zaku pushed forwards, tripping over the chair, and landing in a heap on the ground. The two of them panted, even as Kin stood up and backed away slightly, never once putting the knife away, but no longer pointing it towards the two of them.

"You may be able to survive on your own, sure." Zaku conceded that point, taking a deep breath. "But I'll be damned if you wouldn't hate it the entire way."

Dosu didn't speak from his position on the floor, instead covering his eyes with his arm and panting as quietly as he could.

"I'm going to the Hokage. I'm going to get away from Orochimaru, and I'm going to live the life that **_I_** want to live." Zaku held his hand out to the boy, gazing down at him with a small smile. "And I'd like it if the two of you came too."

Dosu said nothing for a few seconds, breathing slowly as he let his arm fall to the side, looking over at Kin with an expression Zaku couldn't quite fathom. When he finally looked away, it was to lock eyes with him, examining every part of him.

"You're an idiot." The boy supplied simply.

"Perhaps." He smiled.

"You're going to get us all killed."

"Maybe," Zaku admitted. "But in the long run, I'd bet that my plan has a higher survival rating than yours."

Dosu turned, putting his weight on his left arm as he pushed himself up, standing and looking back over towards Kin once more, as if, for the final time, considering simply killing her once more.

He seemed to dismiss the thought a second later, as he turned back towards Zaku with a small conviction playing in his eyes.

"Alright, fine." Dosu sighed. "Just this once, I'll bet on your ideals."

He smiled at that, letting out a massive breath of relief as he looked towards Kin and smiled at her. The girl returned it, though hers was more sedated, still filled with residual fear from the entire night's events.

"Kin, go get your equipment and get dressed, we don't have a ton of time." Zaku ordered simply, before a hand on his shoulder brought him out of his fervor.

"I'm sorry." Dosu spoke, sounding a tad annoyed. "I don't remember promoting you to leader of this team."

He laughed a bit nervously, raising his hands in mock surrender.

"Kin, follow Zaku's instruction."

The girl's eyes narrowed as she sighed.

"Right, yeah."

She disappeared into her room for a few minutes, and came out in her traditional ninja garb, a few senbon already strapped to the side of her thigh. She nodded once to the both of them, and they followed behind Dosu as they walked towards the entrance.

"Alright, we'll take back alleys and side streets all the way to the Hokage's office. We want to go as long as possible without being spotted, if we get spotted at all." The boy opened the door, still turned towards the both of them. "In the event we do get seen, we-"

"How interesting, just what could you mean by that?"

It was as if the temperature around them dropped 15 degrees in a single second. Chills shot up Zaku's body as he looked at the figure stood before them, garbed in his traditional Medical ninja outfit, he didn't cut much of an imposing figure.

But as the right-hand man of Orochimaru, Kabuto Yakushi wasn't to be underestimated.

"My, my." Kabuto's eyes seemed to glint in the fragile moonlight, and his teeth, bared to the world, seemed terribly sharp as he smiled at the three of them.

"What do we have here?"

**End Chapter 23**

* * *

**At this point, I feel like an apology isn't quite enough for the triple cliffhanger's that I've done the last three weeks.**

**But it's all I've got so...**

**Anyways, Next week, Kabuto vs. the Gang.**

**Probably some other stuff too.**

**See you all next week!**


	24. Chapter 24

**Yo yo yo.  
**

**It's the moment of truth for our Sound boys. Will they prove victorious?**

**I don't know, read the chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter 24: A Promise Fulfilled  
**

* * *

"GET DOWN!"

Zaku trusted Dosu's order, dropping to the floor as a poisoned kunai whizzed directly overhead, impacting against the wooden support pillar to a nearby shop.

"We're not losing him!" Zaku felt like pointing out as the three of them ducked into another alleyway.

"Yeah, well, we weren't exactly prepared for this!" Dosu shot back, drawing his last remaining smoke bomb out from his pouch and chucking it back the way they'd came, watching as it exploded and filled the entrance with billowing gas.

"I hate to bring this up but weren't you there to kill me!?" Kin shouted at the two of them, eyes narrowed in an odd mixture of petty anger and real fear. "Shouldn't you have stocked up on supplies for that!?"

Dosu didn't say anything for a moment as they watched the smoke, and, seeing nothing emerge, ran out the alley's other end and into another side-street.

"In my defense," Dosu breathed out, panting as they ran as hard as they could. "I was planning a sneak attack."

"Really!?" Kin whispered annoyedly, before swearing almost silently as they ducked behind a small food stall, seemingly avoiding their pursuers gaze as he flew past them and onto a roof just beyond them, surveying the entire area.

"Can we not argue about this right now?" Zaku called the both of them out, peaking around their small stall, and, seeing Kabuto looking the other way, giving the two of them the signal to move.

They'd managed to escape Kin's apartment by way of a paper bomb, but after that, they'd been left with next to nothing as they snaked their way through the leaf village, trying desperately to avoid Kabuto's poisoned knives and shuriken. Luckily, it was the dead of night, well past the time when the streets were filled with people, and so their escape path hadn't been through countless people.

They traveled as a unit, using the experience Orochimaru had given them for missions just like this one, infiltration's into well-guarded areas, that were, in essence, very similar to trying not to be spotted by someone trying to kill you.

Their goal was much the same as well. They reckoned that if Orochimaru thought he could challenge the Hokage directly, he would've done it already. Thus, if they could make it to the Hokage's office, they'd be in the clear. Kabuto wouldn't follow the three of them inside.

Still, there were definitely some small differences in their strategy. Unlike being confined in an enemy base, or a fortress, they didn't have a set route to the target. If they took a route around the entire leaf village that still managed to get them inside the Hokage's office, then that was a success, no matter how long it took.

All they needed to do to win was live.

"Ah, there you three are!"

Which was proving a bit difficult with _him _on their trail.

Kabuto jumped down in front of them, immediately drawing multiple poisoned blades into his fingers and flinging them at the three of them, forcing them to dodge away from them and, in the process, scatter slightly.

Zaku watched as the young-adult briefly surveyed his options, before smiling maliciously as he charged towards Kin, drawing another blade and bringing it down.

It was blocked by the backside of Dosu's gauntlet, the boy launching an ear-rending blast of sound out of it a second later, forcing Kabuto backwards. In the interim moment as the bastard once more considered his options, Zaku thrust his left arm outwards and forced air through it.

Pain shot up the entire limb, but the odd mix of chakra and air still fired, knocking Kabuto back into the small stall behind him. He motioned towards the other two to run, and they put up no arguments there, rushing through the empty streets as fast as they could, just barely dodging another kunai as it impacted into the wall beside Zaku's own face.

"Keep going!" Dosu shouted, motioning towards the horizon beyond them, where a lone building seemed to tower over all of the others. "We're about halfway there! We can make it!"

"Of course, we're going to make it!" Zaku shouted, smiling despite the horrifying dread coursing through him. "You think I went to all that effort to save you assholes for us to die here!?"

"I'd really like to draw the conversation back to the fact that you were going to kill me!" Kin shouted, pushing Zaku forward as a dozen senbon thudded into the ground.

"You're just now getting upset about this!?"

"How could I not!?"

"Focus, people!" Dosu shouted as he grabbed them both by the arms, forcing them against the wall as a earth jutsu rained down before them. "Have this argument when we're all safe and sound, not before!"

"R-right." They both answered back.

"We've still got-" The boy stopped speaking as they rounded the corner, barely retracting his head in time to dodge the raging torrent of water that shot past it. Dosu dropped back slightly, breathing hard from the near-death experience. "We've still got a few blocks to go, don't lose focus, but don't let that guy scare you. He's one, and we're three. We don't necessarily have the advantage, but neither does he."

Dosu signaled them, pointing two fingers towards the opening, and the three of them charged outwards, the masked boy raising his gauntlet and blasting apart an oncoming stream of water. Kin, on the other hand, brought out two senbon with little bells attached to them into her left and right hands, and seemed to be heavily focusing on something.

_Oh, right. _Zaku thought, remembering the girl's abilities. _She barely ever brings it out, I guess I sort of forgot she could use Genjutsu._

As the three of them ran through the barren street, Kin seemed to slow down minutely. It wouldn't have been that big of a deal normally but being chased by someone trying to kill you generally limited your options.

"Oi, Kin!" Zaku called back to the girl. "Eyes forward!"

"Give me a sec." The girl responded simply, muttering something under her breath.

He realized a second later that he probably shouldn't distract her, but still had to charge forward to bat a kunai out of the air, preventing it from striking the girl's backside.

"Alright, got it!" Kin threw the senbon into the path in front of them, landing on opposite sides of the flanking walls. "That should buy us some time. C'mon!"

With that cryptic message, Kin charged forward into the alley she'd just trapped, running right through as he followed behind her, and Dosu brought up the rear. Zaku heard the sound of his teammates gauntlet yet again and assumed that he'd knocked another Jutsu out of the air.

Suddenly, the bells hanging off of the senbon started to give off a faint ringing, and Zaku's vision distorted almost instantly.

"W-what?" He uttered, feeling nauseous as he took another step, and nearly falling flat on his face.

He would've, if not for the hand that reached out and grabbed onto his own, hauling him up and pulling him. he didn't have any idea where they were going, but sticking around those needles seemed like it wouldn't be too good of an idea, so anywhere else was probably preferable.

His vision seemed to realign itself as he was dragged even further, and by the time they rounded what he presumed was a corner, he seemed to have regained his bearings fully.

"Hey, uh, Kin?" Dosu spoke, still holding onto Kin's hand and seemingly having gone through the same experience Zaku had. "Please warn us next time you do that."

"Oh, I'm sorry," The girl spoke sarcastically. "Did you warn me that you were going to try and kill me!?"

"Uhm… Technically I did." Zaku commented as he raised his hand feebly, nearly vomiting as he brought the same hand over his mouth.

"Right, well…" Kin muttered, blushing embarrassedly. "Sorry, I kind of forgot about that."

"S'fine." Zaku spoke, looking up and giving his best smile, which came across as more of a glare given how his stomach still rumbled uncomfortably. "We should probably get moving, though, I don't know how long that'll hold that guy for."

"Knowing Orochimaru?" Dosu responded, looking back with a sigh. "I'm fairly sure his right-hand man can handle a fairly simple Genjutsu."

"Right." Kin nodded, and they stepped forward.

Dosu took the lead, rounding the corner with his gauntlet raised to block a Jutsu, but none came.

"Alright, we've only got…" Dosu observed the skyline, judging the distance they still had to cover by how far away the Hokage's building looked. "Probably 4 or 5 blocks to go. We're going to make it, got it!?"

"Right!" He and Kin shouted, following behind the boy as he took a running jump off of a nearby fruit stand, running onto the roof of the building just in front of them, and dashing towards their goal with a feeling of hope encompassing them.

_Almost there. _His treacherous brain muttered quietly.

Zaku panted as he hopped to the next building, leaping the distance in a single bound and rolling as he landed.

_Almost there…_

Kin shouted something from behind them, and even if neither he or Dosu could hear quite what it was, judging by the girl's tone, it was nothing good.

_Almost there…_

There were only a dozen or so more roofs between them and the Hokage's office.

_We're going to make it!_

And then Dosu cried out, falling to the ground, and rolling to a stop, clutching his abdomen as he did.

"DOSU!" He called out in a panic, ignoring his instinct to turn and face their assailant as he ran towards his fallen comrade.

"Zaku, watch out!"

He turned just in time to dodge the incoming Jutsu, a stone flying at him at a speed that would've easily sent it straight through him. He dodged a few shuriken as well, stepping back into a position just in front of Dosu, guarding the boy as he desperately tried to draw breath on the floor below him. Kin joined him a moment later, senbon drawn up into her fingers, though judging by the way her head moved on a swivel, she hadn't been able to locate their attacker.

"Whew." A confident, malicious voice seemed to echo from all around them. "You know, you three gave me quite the scare. You very nearly got away."

Zaku grit his teeth as Kabuto landed on the roof, standing tall and cocky as he smiled over at the three of them.

"But, well… I suppose everything must come to an end eventually." The man sounded almost disappointed as he took a step forwards, prompting both he and Kin to step back, nearly stepping on the collapsed Dosu in the process. "Ah, I wouldn't move him if I were you, that would greatly speed up the toxin traveling through him."

Anger coursed through him, but Zaku knew he couldn't move. If he did, he gave the ninja before him an easy way in to kill Dosu, and to sow even more rage into the two of them, which would, of course, result in their loss.

Still, it certainly didn't feel good to sit there and take the bastards words, without anything to fire back.

"If you don't mind, how about the three of you come back with me to see Orochimaru? I'm sure he'd be eager to hear all about this?"

Kabuto smiled as he took another step forward, but all of a sudden, the young-man's face went pale white, and he jumped backwards, not just once or twice, but five times, raising his hands up before him to defend against an unseen threat.

A second later, a voice cried out.

"Fire Style: Flame Bullet!"

A raging blast of fire flowed through the air, overwhelming Kabuto's fragile defense and sending the man flying backwards, landing only barely on a rooftop just across from theirs.

"Well, well, well." The new figure spoke up, landing just before them and crossing his arms. "Can't say I expected the three of you to turn traitor, but I'm certainly not complaining."

"Who the hell are you!?" Kin shouted, reaching down and taking a brief glimpse at Dosu's wound, which was beginning to pool blood onto the roof below them.

"Me?" The veritable giant spoke in surprise as he turned around, pointing to himself with his index finger and, when no one seemed to say anything, sighing quietly. "Always the forgotten Sannin. No one ever remembers the 'frog guy', who the hell cares about frogs."

"Uhm…" Zaku let out quietly. "S-sorry?"

"Eh, don't be, kid. Everyone's like that." The man sighed again, before turning towards them and smiling widely.

"Name's Jiraiya, but most people know me as the Toad Sage."

"W-wait." Kin spoke up, trembling slightly. "L-like… Sannin Jiraiya?"

"Yes, an awful lot like Sannin Jiraiya." The man spoke up, sounding slightly amused. "Now, I'm going to have the two of you carry your unconscious friend here, and get to the Hokage's office, I'll handle this guy."

"B-but…" Zaku couldn't help but feel a modicum of worry in his voice. If this guy couldn't hold Kabuto, then he'd just come after them again when they weren't expecting it. "Kabuto's strong, he's not going to go down easily!"

To that, the giant in front of them only laughed, turning around so his back faced the three of them.

"Kid, the last time I ran into Orochimaru, he turned tail and ran away from me." Jiraiya spoke up, laughing as he walked towards his opponent. "This guy?" He pointed towards Kabuto, who even now didn't dare move. "Can't even begin to compare, Now get going!"

Zaku did just that, swallowing the last of his doubt and grabbing Dosu by the arms, hauling him around and onto his back, and nodding towards Kin when she asked if he'd be able to handle it by himself.

And just like that, they were off into the night. And finally, for the first time in half a decade, Zaku felt a small semblance of freedom.

/-/

Jiraiya watched the three kids go with a smile, their worry for him oddly touching, even if he was fairly sure it was actually worry for themselves that he might blow it protecting them.

"Glad they have such confidence in me." Jiraiya muttered, sighing as he turned back towards the boy those three had called Kabuto, and realizing that he vaguely recognized him. "Oh, you're the guy who fought that edgy brat from the Chuunin Exams."

The kid in front of him said nothing, but he noticed the burns on the boy's arms began to heal automatically, just as they had when he'd fought in his Chuunin exams battle against the Uchiha kid.

"So, what, you have some kind of innate healing?"

Once more, the ninja before him didn't speak. Jiraiya could, in a way, respect the boy's silence. He knew he was outclassed, and at the moment, his only goal was getting away without revealing anything else than he already had.

Still, it was Jiraiya's goal to prevent that. If he could drag this idiot in for questioning, then they could learn quite a lot about Orochimaru's plans here in Konoha, even more than the three Genin from earlier would know about it, being, likely, expendable pieces on a very large board.

But the right-hand man of Orochimaru himself?

Well, he'd have some answers.

Jiraiya charged forwards, extending his hair and letting it fly out, trying to impact into the boy in front of him and use it almost like a fishing hook to drag him back in. His opponent deftly avoided the attack, firing out two kunai in the span of half a second that were effortlessly batted aside with the backs of Jiraiya's gauntlets. As he did, he brought his hair back around and, swinging his head in a circular motion, used the returning momentum like a whip, sending it back towards Kabuto even faster than before.

Even still, the boy managed to duck underneath it, drawing a paper bomb out of his pouch and slapping it onto the roof below him, before jumping back and running.

Jiraiya swore, running over to the planted explosive and, using his formidable knowledge of sealing arts, reached down and deactivated the weapon before it could go off. They had, after all, still been fighting in a residential area. If the bomb had exploded, then it was very likely that someone could've been injured, or even killed.

As he looked back up at where his opponent had been, there was no one to be found.

Jiraiya sighed loudly, taking the now inanimate piece of paper, and pocketing it.

_Perhaps the forensics department guys can get some prints off this. _Jiraiya reasoned. _Not much point since we know who he is, but I suppose it's better than nothing._

There was a half decent chance that, if he really wanted to, he could probably find that boy and track him down. The problem with that, really, was that his opponent didn't care about taking innocent lives in the crossfire, whereas he very much did. Fighting in the city streets would only lead to citizens being hurt. It was, unfortunately, better to let the bastard run home with his tail between his legs.

"Even if it makes sense in theory, it doesn't make me feel any better." Jiraiya sighed, turning back towards the Hokage's office, and dashing away.

/-/

"I'm dressing the wound, but this poison isn't something I've encountered!"

"Call one of the specialists from the hospital, maybe they've seen it before!"

"He's on his way, but it's going to be a few minutes."

"Alright, I'll do what I can to stimmy the flow!"

Kin sat quietly as the medical ninja's rushed around the small room, wrapping bandages around Dosu's torso and extracting the poison covered kunai, as well as closing the wound faster than any doctor's she'd ever seen.

It was rather impressive.

_So, these are the doctor's who healed me, too, huh?_

An hour went by before anyone approached them, and when they did, it was a single, older gentleman, the specialist who'd been called in from the hospital.

"He's in stable condition." The man smiled at them, and whether that was because of a jolly nature, or just trying to keep them reassured, Kin still appreciated it. "I regret that I couldn't do more. Even if I am technically a specialist, I wasn't able to extract all of the poison, just most of it. Unfortunately, that means he'll be confined to a bed for the next week or so."

"That's fine." Zaku spoke up, not quite smiling at the man, but giving a decent attempt at one. "We appreciate the assistance."

"You're mighty welcome. Honestly, I just wish Lady Tsunade was here… she's the world's foremost expert on poisons, she could've dealt with something of this caliber in half the time I did and had that kid up and running within a day."

Kin vaguely recognized the name, and she combed her mind for more information.

"Tsunade… She's the last of the three Sannin, right?"

The doctor nodded, his cheeks crinkling with age as he did.

"Back in the days of the Second Shinobi World War, Lady Tsunade revolutionized a lot of the medical Ninjutsu we use today, including training an awful lot of today's technicians." The man pointed to himself, smiling widely. "I was one of her students all those years ago, even if I was a decade or two older than her."

Kin smiled tiredly up at the man, listening to him ramble on and on about his older mentor as the hours ticked by. Finally, after more than ten stories about the war, most of which actually did, begrudgingly, teach her a few things about life and the code of the medical ninjas, an Anbu appeared in front of their group.

"The Hokage will see you now." Were the only words that passed by the woman's lips.

She wore a standard Anbu outfit, and her mask depicted a cat, or so Kin thought. Her hair was a vibrant purple, and it billowed out behind her as she walked, leading them up a winding set of stairs, and in front of a simple, yet ornate looking door.

"Behave yourselves." The woman spok as she opened the door, allowing them to step into the Hokage's office.

The room itself was, much like the door that led into it, simple, yet it carried a certain dignity to it that made it seem larger than it really was. It was curved inwards, likely do to the cylindrical shape of the buildings construction, but it made good use of this, pointing towards the simple desk that resided in the center of the room, upon which sat the Hokage.

The man himself looked nothing like a terrifyingly powerful warrior. He seemed, at first glance, to be a rather unimportant old man, the kind that would be seen in the park feeding birds, wasting away their remaining years. Kin could almost see this man having the same daily routine, with the way he stood up with a cane, and walked over to face them with an easy smile set upon his face.

"Thank you, Yugao," The man spoke to his Anbu, who even now guarded the doorway behind them. "You may leave."

"Thank you, sir."

"Have a nice night with Hayate." The man called out in a teasing tone, causing the Anbu to jump minutely, before turning back and looking towards the Hokage with what, even behind the mask she wore, Kin could tell was an annoyed expression.

The Third Hokage laughed easily as the woman flashed away, walking over to his desk and gesturing towards two small, rickety chairs set up in front of it.

"You'll have to forgive me, with the short notice, I was unable to prepare you two anything better than these."

"Oh, uhm, no, that's… that's fine, sir." Zaku muttered quietly, bowing as he finished.

The tension that seemed to hang around Kin and Zaku was shattered a second later, as the old man nearly collapsed from laughing, taking a seat in his chair and wiping away a small tear in his eyes.

"My apologies, but the two of you have no need to be quite so formal, you know." The Hokage spoke as the two of them sat down. "I know my student has been your leader for a few years now, I'm afraid I must apologize for his actions, he has always been my greatest failure as a master."

"It's really no problem at all, sir" Kin mediated, even if she couldn't help but feel the least bit confused. How had such a cold person like Orochimaru originated from this man?

Her thought process was interrupted as the door behind them erupted open, and a blonde boy, robed in a bright orange jumpsuit, charged into the room, walked right up to the Hokage's desk, and slammed his hands down on it.

"Oi! Old man!" The boy whined. "That Frog Guy went and disappeared on me _Again! _Do you know where he is? He was supposed to be teaching me how to do a Summoning Jutsu!"

"Naruto…" The Hokage sighed wearily, even though there was a small smile on his face that didn't fade away. "I believe Jiraiya is downstairs, giving his statement on tonight's events to the Anbu."

"Huh… did something happen?"

"Nothing you need to worry yourself about." The Hokage assured the boy.

Naruto, who Kin remembered only then as one of the members of Team 7, the team they'd been sent to eliminate in the Forest of Death, pondered that idea for a moment. Apparently, he had decided that he was far too nosey to leave anything outside of his own authority, because a second later, he turned back to the Hokage and asked "So… what happened, exactly?"

"Naruto did you not hear me?"

"Well, I mean… I did, but I just kinda…"

"Chose to ignore me?"

"Chose to ignore you, yeah."

The Hokage sighed once again, turning back towards the two of them and smiling.

"I'm sorry about this, you two, it appears one of our Genin is interrupting our meeting."

Even this Naruto, who didn't appear to be all that smart, seemed to catch that hint, for he turned back towards them, bowed to apologize, and made to leave.

A second later he stopped, turned back around with eyebrows drawn down in contemplation, and walked back over to them, getting right into Zaku's face and examining him closely.

"Uhm…" Kin's teammate spoke. "Could you… not?"

"AH!" The Orange ninja screamed, pointing his finger into Zaku's face, and then into hers, as he took a step back. "I knew I recognized you two! You're those guys we fought in the Forest!"

"Yeah, uhm…" Zaku looked over towards her, giving her a look that clearly screamed _'Help me out here!'._

If it had been Dosu, she might've been a little less willing to offer it, but for Zaku, the guy who'd basically saved her life a few hours ago, she was feeling a bit merciful.

"We're sorry about that." She spoke, standing as she did and bowing. "We were given a mission from Orochimaru, we couldn't afford to not complete it."

"Oh, right!" Naruto turned back to the Hokage, pointing at the two of them. "Oi, Old man! We told you these guys work for Orochimaru back during the test, why are they in your office!?"

"Well, Naruto, as of a few hours ago, they don't work for Orochimaru anymore."

Naruto went quiet for a second, rubbing his chin with his hand.

"Huh, well, Sakura will be happy, I guess."

They sat there for a moment as Naruto rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, unmoving from his position as he did. Another moment passed before the Hokage cleared his throat, drawing the young boy's attention.

"Well, Naruto, we're in the middle of an important meeting, so… if you would."

"Would what?" The boy asked, somehow oblivious.

"Leave." The Hokage finally came out with it, sighing as the boy gave a loud "Oh" Before turning around and walking out the door, closing it behind him.

As the silence ticked on for a few seconds, the Hokage reached over and grabbed a cup of tea that had been sitting there for quite a while. Kin couldn't help but think it would be rather cold, but a second later, a small flame came to the man's fingers, and as he grabbed the cup, the water once more began to steam.

It was a small display, but in that moment, Kin could see just how intimidating the man before her truly was. The level of control he possessed to be able to utilize fire release so freely was immaculate.

As the man set his tea cup down, he sighed blissfully, letting the evening air from the open window behind his desk course over him.

"Now," He spoke quietly, looking back up to them with a glint in his eye.

"Where were we?"

/-/

Kabuto stepped inside Orochimaru's makeshift base with a conflicted expression. Those three brats had made their get-away, and now, he'd have to report back to Orochimaru about what had occurred.

And yet he walked with no fear. Instead, he walked confidently, elegantly, and with a smile on his face. By the time he reached Orochimaru, he could hardly wait to give his report.

"Ah, Kabuto." The Sannin spoke as he turned around, smiling over at him as he did. "You took longer than I'd expected."

"My apologies, sir, those three weren't quite as easy to handle as I'd expected."

"So I've heard. My sources tell me that they've made it to the Hokage's office, and into his protection. This, despite the fact that I gave them crucial information about our plan not two days ago."

Kabuto was the first to crack, giving off a small snicker, before erupting, laughing as he shook in place. Orochimaru before him cackled madly as well, his shrill voice echoing off the walls.

"So, that fool Hiruzen actually fell for it, then?" Orochimaru said, still laughing faintly. "Fascinating, though not unexpected, I suppose. It is an awful shame to lose such excellent candidates for the Reincarnation Jutsu, but I suppose I could make do with some rats from the Leaf instead."

"Even so, there's always a possibility he won't take their information at face value. He could have foreseen this entire thing."

"Hah, I suppose it is not your fault for misunderstanding, Kabuto, for you have never experienced a war before, given your age." Orochimaru explained, smiling at him in a superior way. "He is trapped between two bad choices. Either he ignores their intel entirely, and risks losing his civilians to a backwards assault, or he takes their intel at face value, sending a good half his troops to guard the back half of the village, and leaves the front open."

"No good options… I see." Kabuto couldn't help but be in awe of his master, to have thought so far ahead. "Is this what you had planned for them, even back during the Chuunin Exams?"

"Well, if they had not performed, then I would simply have killed them as sacrifices, they had to do this of their own accord, after all. I didn't trust them to act in front of the Hokage and his entourage, but right now, they truly believe they've gone over to his side of their own free will. They won't hold back any information they have, in fact, they'll be eager to share it, and in the process, they will force the Hokage to make an impossible choice."

"Which will severely weaken his armies, no matter which he chooses." Kabuto spoke, before his eyes widened, and he turned back towards the man, smiling maliciously. "And if our spies report back that he hasn't chosen to reinforce his back…"

"Then we attack from behind as well." Orochimaru confirmed.

"That's… truly genius, sir."

"No, it is not genius." Orochimaru corrected, the smile on his face becoming more casual. "Even this plan, despite it's strengths, does carry with it weaknesses. We are, after all, confirming for the Hokage that we will be attacking, meaning he will be able to recall ninjas from across the country to reinforce his gates. Our sound ninjas are strong, but they pale in comparison to the military might of the Leaf."

"Then… pardon my questioning, sir, but what chance do we truly have against them?"

"Why, Kabuto, you wound me." Orochimaru feigned dramatically, as a small snake slithered out of his robe, fell to the floor, and then made it's way out of the room. "I have plans to counter even that. Jiraiya being here so early certainly changes how we must go about these things. The giant hydra we plan on summoning, for instance, would be easily quelled by him. Adding something else to the mix, however, might make the battle for the gate's more… Interesting."

Kabuto couldn't quite help his curiosity on that front, unable to quite follow the man's train of thought.

"Just what exactly are you planning on doing, sir?"

Orochimaru turned back towards him, his eyes practically glowing in the pale moonlight, even as a small wound on his thumb began to drip blood onto the ground.

"Meeting with an old friend."

**End Chapter 24**

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**Alright, finally done with the cliffhanger endings!**

**I mean... kinda?**

**Anyways, next week, focus is entirely on the main trio to make up for this (mostly) Oto chapter. Kakashi and Sasuke, Sakura and Anko, Naruto and Frog Guy.**

**Y'know, the traditional mentor ships.**

**See you all next week!**


	25. Chapter 25

**Yo!**

**Another week, another chapter of this story.**

**I'm going to go ahead and say that this is easily the most polarizing chapter I've written, at least to me. It does a lot of very weird things, but I hope you all like them!**

* * *

**Chapter 25: Hope for the Future**

* * *

"You did what!?"

Naruto's grin was of shit-eating proportions, practically taking up half of his face as he leaned backwards, as if looking down upon Sasuke like a king would a meager peasant.

"I said I summoned a Giant Frog." The boy repeated once more, gripping his chin with one hand, and laughing haughtily under his breath. "That Frog Guy taught me how to a week ago, and just yesterday, I finally mastered it!"

Sasuke felt that Naruto referring to one of the three great Sannin as 'That Frog Guy' should probably have been seen as a massive disrespect, but he also felt that the boy wouldn't have truly been himself if he were ever respectful of anyone at all.

"You learned how to use the summoning jutsu in a week!?" The Uchiha sputtered, feeling just the smallest bit envious as he looked towards his friend. "Just what the hell kind of training is that man giving you!?" He reached over and took the boy's arm, inspecting it with a quiet vigor as he continued. "Did he use drugs? Stimulants? Steroids?"

"Actually, he threw me into a-" Naruto stopped midway through his sentence, cleared his throat, and continued. "Apparently I'm just a natural."

Sasuke could tell _that _particular sentence was about as truthful as Kakashi's excuses for general tardiness but chose to simply let it go.

"All Kakashi taught me was Chidori." Sasuke grumbled a bit under his breath. He hadn't told the boy, but he'd originally agreed to take a break from his training to come and brag to Naruto about how much cooler _his_ Jutsu was than Naruto's own.

Apparently, his best friend had had a very similar idea.

Even still, the park they were sat in was too nice for anything to truly sour his mood. It was in the middle of the Leaf Village, only a few blocks from the small wooden pier where the two of them had first stumbled into one another's lives, and even now, this part of the town still held some significance to him.

"What's a Chidori?" Naruto asked him a bit later, eyes curious at they met with his own.

The Uchiha smirked.

_Maybe,_ _If I can pull this out right here, I can salvage this somehow…_

"Hold on, I'll show you."

Sasuke held his hand out, letting chakra gather into the center of it, just how Kakashi had shown him. he closed his eyes, concentrating intensely as he let the chakra shift in nature. First, it flowed to the element he had the most experience using, that of fire, before shifting ever so slightly, becoming lightning in the palm of his hand.

"Chidori!" He shouted.

A small spark came into being in his palm, flickered briefly, and then dissipated.

His cheeks began to grow hot as Naruto continued to stare at him, evidently expecting something more than that.

"Is that it?" The boy asked, honestly perplexed.

"I'm tired, OK!" He shouted, trying to ignore the horrid embarrassment that fluttered throughout him as Naruto laughed at his suffering.

"No, no, please, keep going," Naruto exclaimed as he laughed himself into a fit, nearly falling forward as he did. "This truly looks to be a revolutionary new technique! Why-" Naruto briefly lost himself in his own joke, falling to the floor and lying prone on the ground. "Why haven't the Leaf's top ninja picked this up?"

"Yeah, uh huh." Sasuke deadpanned, looking down at his friend with an incredible disdain. "Hilarious. Never-before-made joke."

"Oh, I guess you're right, Kakashi taught it to you, so that makes it at least a second generation technique." The boy pretended to think about that for a moment, before a small giggle broke through his visage once more. "D-d'you what let him be one of the leaf's top ranking ninja's was...?"

The boy's cheeks grew wide as he stood up, getting right next to Sasuke, nearly losing his composure and falling into another fit as he did.

"Static electricity?" The boy barely got out, before exploding, falling backwards and cackling madly.

Sasuke was feeling a bit mad himself, looking down at the boy who was attracting more than his fair share of attention, and annoyed expressions, from the other park-goers around them.

"Nine-Tailed brat, causing a ruckus, as usual."

"Why does nice little Sasuke have to be stuck with a loudmouth like him?"

"He must hate the guy."

"Definitely, they've got polar opposite personalities from what I've seen."

"How terrible."

Sasuke gritted his teeth as he stood up, giving one of the older couples who'd been speaking a glare that would've sent a chill down many adult ninja's spines. They seemed to get the memo, standing up and quickly seeing themselves to another bench a decent way's away, though far enough that he couldn't pick up what they were saying anymore.

_Probably some trash about how the 'Nine-Tailed brat' is corrupting me._

Sasuke felt he would've snorted at that if he wasn't so damn annoyed. First with Naruto's own joke, which had carried on just a bit longer than was fun for him, and then with these people, who judged based not off of character, but of history.

"Y'know, you don't always have to get so mad."

He turned back to look at Naruto, eyebrows raised slightly in surprise as he did.

"What?"

Naruto's knowing smile always managed to irk him somewhat, it was an expression that was so terribly unbecoming of him. The boy sat straight up, gesturing towards the bench that the couple had just vacated. They sat down upon it a few seconds later, and Naruto continued.

"I don't know, it just seems like… we've been doing this routine our whole lives, y'know?" Naruto rocked back and forth ever so slightly, seeming uncomfortable with what he was saying, even if he wasn't willing to back down on the words either. "I feel as if you're always chasing people like those guys away."

Sasuke's eyes widened minutely. He didn't think his friend saw him glare at those idiots.

"And I do appreciate it!" Naruto shot out quickly, as if fearing Sasuke would take his words personally. "Really, I do. But… Honestly, after all this time, I just don't think it's worth the effort anymore, y'know?"

Sasuke's expression must've given away how he felt about his friend's words, for a second later Naruto winced, hissing out a breath as he looked away from him and into the center of the park, avoiding eye contact.

"So… what?" The Uchiha asked calmly, eyes narrowed as he leaned forward to look the boy across from him in the eye. "You think I should just up and give up on trying to get these people to actually consider you as a human being?"

"T-that's not what I-"

"Just give up on my best friend, throw him to the wolves, and go on like everything's hunky dory?"

Naruto coughed awkwardly, trying, and failing to dispel some of the mood clouding around them like a thick fog.

"You know that's not what I meant." The boy muttered, glaring at him annoyedly as he did.

"I don't know, it sounded an awful lot like that to me." Sasuke responded, grinning slightly, before sighing, leaning back, and looking up at the sky. It was a relatively cloudless day, with a few small wisps the only interruptions to the endless blue expanse. "Don't go saying things like standing up for you isn't worth the effort, because that's exactly what those idiots want you to think about yourself."

Naruto's eyes widened as he looked down at him, before a tiny, almost invisible smile blossomed across his features.

"Honestly… Arguing with you always feels so pointless."

Sasuke snickered.

"That's kind of the point, actually."

They sat in near silence for the next few minutes, enjoying the light breeze that passed through the park and rustled into the trees around them.

"Hey… Sasuke?"

He turned his head to look up at his friend, raising his eyebrows in curiosity.

"About what you said the other day… about… how I should just ignore what everyone thinks, and become the Hokage anyways," Naruto trailed off briefly, looking elsewhere as he tried to gather his thoughts. "That really meant a lot."

Once more, Sasuke found himself reeling slightly, not having expected the boy to bring that up.

"Well… you're welcome I suppose?"

Naruto sighed in response, though there was still a smile on his face.

"You weren't supposed to take credit for that so quickly."

"I don't see why I shouldn't." Sasuke argued, a tiny smile playing across his face. "I did, after all, help you out."

"Wow, and so incredibly humble." Naruto muttered as he rolled his eyes.

"I am, obviously, the humblest man alive."

Naruto snorted, before he shook his head lightly, and continued from where he'd left off.

"I never really properly explained myself… back when I was dying on that bridge, and I told you all of that stuff… I still can't really gather all the thoughts that were running through my mind then."

"That makes sense." Sasuke reasoned, pushing himself back up into a sitting position. "You were dying, it's normal for people on the edge of death to get… well, a little loopy, from my experience. Hell, I can barely remember when Itachi-"

His voice cut out on instinct, but it was a bit too late. His mood instantly soured, and it felt like Naruto could see that too, for he didn't seem to know what to say. They'd been friends for nearly 4 years now, and even now, Naruto didn't quite know how to respond whenever his brother was brought up.

"Sorry, please continue." Sasuke murmured quietly, feeling bad that he'd steered Naruto's own conversation in his direction. "I didn't mean to derail you."

"No, it's fine, honestly." Naruto held his hands out, but they fell a second later. Clearly, neither of them was doing too well keeping the conversation on the rails. "But yeah, that actually ties into what I was going to bring up."

Sasuke's eyes widened as he turned to look towards Naruto, who had a sad smile in place of his usual jubilant one.

"I realized it back in the hospital room, when you so fervently rejected the thought that I would give up on being the Hokage… I think…" Naruto swallowed, taking a second or two to breath. "I think you've been using my dream as a sort of… proxy."

_…What?_

"What… what do you mean?"

"I think the day your brother killed your entire clan… the day your life was stolen from you, you chose to throw away searching for a normal life. You said to yourself, "I won't ever be able to catch up to my brother if I make friends, or play around, or enjoy myself, or have a dream". You isolated yourself, cut all ties to anyone else, stopped trying to enjoy your life, and you gave up on your dreams."

Sasuke's lips parted, as if he wanted to say something in response, but nothing came out as the boy continued onward.

"And then, somehow, your magical plan fell apart." Naruto looked over towards him, smiling sadly. "You went and made a friend. Several, in fact. Suddenly, the dark and cold life you'd chosen for yourself, that you'd resigned to being kept to, no longer looked so good. But, you were determined to keep your goal, at the very least."

"And yet, even still, there was a part of you that wanted to live, to truly enjoy your life and be with the people around you. And so, you did the only thing you could to satisfy both of those conditions; you chose to dream vicariously through me."

Sasuke didn't say anything as Naruto finished, though, to be fair, he didn't feel like he needed to. He was far to busy stuck in his own head, trying to figure out if what Naruto had said was the truth.

_I didn't even realize, but… I don't think he's wrong._

"Don't get me wrong, I've got no problems with sharing my dream, not in the slightest." Naruto turned towards Sasuke, smiling despite the lingering sadness that seemed to hang around the both of them. "But… at the same time, there is something that I have to ask you."

"What's that?" Sasuke asked passively, only half listening.

"Once you train and train and train, ever day, without end, and you go and find your brother, once you face him and defeat him… what are you going to do then?"

"What?"

"What are you going to do after your duty is done?" Naruto asked, confidence filling his face as he got to the meat of his argument. "What is it you want, what are you trying to accomplish past that?"

"I-I-"

"You don't know, do you?"

Sasuke turned towards his friend, feeling stunned as he met the boy's gaze. Naruto wore a knowing look, as if he'd already known what his friend's reaction would be.

"If I had to guess, the reason you're choosing to live your dream through me… is that you don't have any desires outside of killing your brother, do you?" Naruto drew his hands onto his lap, though Sasuke didn't miss the way they crumpled into fists. "Once all of it's over, you're perfectly content to just… stop doing anything at all. You're just going to watch your friends go and live their lives, without ever once worrying about your own."

"That's-"

"You're going to say I'm wrong, aren't you?"

Sasuke stopped immediately, having been called out.

"Yeah, I'm probably wrong on that one. I'd guess what you actually plan on doing is different. Because when it comes to facing your brother, I don't think you even expect to survive."

The words might as well have been a punch to the chest, because Sasuke found it hard to breath as he looked his friend in the eye, the boy's expression was almost frightening.

"You don't have a dream, you don't try to enjoy your life, and you don't try and make any new friends. You train. And then you hang out with me and Sakura. And then you go back to training. You move in a cycle, never stopping, and it scares the hell out of me."

Sasuke breathed in and out, as did Naruto, both of them feeling an odd exhaustion as the conversation continued.

"I-I do have a goal!" Sasuke argued. "I'm going to revive the Uchiha clan!"

"I think you want that too, yeah." Naruto admitted, smiling over at him, before it, like every other happy thing in Sasuke's life, seemed to fade away. "But for some reason, it's always a footnote."

"What?"

"You always mention "Bringing back the Uchiha Clan" at the end." Naruto spoke quietly as a group of small children passed in front of them. They were, perhaps, 9 or 10 years old. They laughed and played around, poking, and prodding each other as their parents followed a few feet behind them, laughing as well. "But first is always your brother. He always takes precedence. Not just over your goal to revive the Uchiha, but over any attempts me and Sakura try to make to pull you out of the life you seem determined to have."

Sasuke felt a small bit of anger course through him at that.

"I need to kill Itachi, Naruto. You and Sakura should understand that, at least!"

"Do you?"

"What?"

"Do you need to kill him?"

Sasuke didn't quite understand the question. How could his friend not understand something so basic, so innately simple, as his revenge?

"Of course, I do!" He shouted as he stood up, turning to face Naruto directly. "Itachi slaughtered my entire clan, made me watch it all with that damned look on his face!" Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he realized that everyone around them had turned to look at the two of them, yelling now as he now was. "You think I could just forget about that!? Go on and live my life and pretend like everything's normal!?"

"It won't bring them back."

This time, the metaphorical punch actually did manage to knock him off his feet, though he just barely managed to grab ahold of the bench they'd been sharing, sliding down into the spot he'd occupied a few seconds ago.

"They can't come back, Sasuke. Even if you kill Itachi, avenge your clan, and come back to the leaf a hero… Your family… They'll still be gone."

"…You think I don't know that?" Sasuke muttered under his breath, feeling real rage course through him, directed for what felt like the first time at Naruto.

"I think you know. Of course, you know. What I'm trying to say is... what does anyone gain from Itachi's death? You get to feel better about your family... and then what? Even if you spend all this time to train, let's say… the next 3 years, and you become strong enough to kill your brother, and then you do survive… what then?"

"Then… Then I'll repopulate the Uchiha, like I said!"

"And is that what you want?"

_Why does he keep saying this?_

"Yeah, it is."

Naruto looked over at him, before sighing disappointedly.

"Can I be honest for a moment?"

"What have you been doing for the last few minutes if you're only now being honest?"

Naruto breathed out a laugh.

"That's fair."

"But… Yeah, go ahead."

"I think you're lying." Naruto spoke sadly. "I don't think you care whether or not you live or die. You think that Sasuke Uchiha, the quiet boy who used to sit in the back of our class those years ago, died when the rest of his clan did. I think that right now, The Sasuke Uchiha in front of me is living for the sole purpose of killing Itachi, of avenging his clan, of having the souls of the dead rest easy, and damn the consequences… and y'know what, that's terrifying for me." The boy beside him admitted sadly. "My best friend doesn't even care about his own life."

"You're making an awful lot of assumptions."

"Then tell me I'm wrong, Sasuke… Because honestly, I'd love it if I was."

There was a little piece of Sasuke that had been screaming out inside his head for some time now, even as he listened to his best friend go on and on. It shouted out it's own agreement with what Naruto was saying, but also, in a strange way, its words couldn't have been farther from what he was saying.

And so, it was with an odd confidence that he opened his mouth and replied.

"You _are_ wrong."

Naruto looked shocked as he turned back towards him, a strange mix of hope and disbelief warring in his expression.

"I might not care about my own life, that's true… but I know that you guys, Sakura, Ino, and you, all care about me." Now Sasuke rocked back and forth, an uncomfortable redness coming to rest on his cheeks as he spilled out his soul. "And if there's one thing I want in the world other than my brother to face justice… it's that the three of you will always be happy."

He turned to look at his friend, an honest expression all that he could manage.

"You guys… for the past four years… it's you guys who've made this life worth living."

Naruto's eyes widened, but he didn't stop Sasuke from speaking.

"So… I don't know if I'm going to be able to make it back from my battle with Itachi, but I will try with every fiber of my being to do so, even if it's only to keep the people I care about happy." Sasuke took a deep breath, and found his throat feeling a bit heavy. He realized a second later that there were tears threatening to spill from his eyes. "And I guess… I'm still trying to find my own reason to live my life… One that isn't just for you guys… Or for my family's legacy… but I promise," Sasuke swallowed, trying to keep his breathing in check. "I promise I'll try and find that, too."

Naruto's mouth fell open just a bit, and he turned away a moment later, lightly rubbing his eyes with the back of his sleeve. Neither of them spoke for quite a while, still a bit in shock from the conversation they'd just had, and when Naruto finally did, it was with an almost croaky voice.

"Dammit," Naruto murmured, a watery smile coming onto the boy's face despite his wishes. "Where do you get off sounding so cool?"

Sasuke smirked, trying to let his feelings wash off of him, with middling success.

"It's a favorite of mine."

Naruto smirked at his joke, before taking a deep breath and letting it out over the course of another few seconds.

"Sorry I grilled you so hard, I-"

"You were just worried about me." Sasuke interrupted, smiling over at the boy to show he was, in no way, offended. "I really do appreciate it."

"Well, that's good at least."

A second later, a low rumbling sound practically split the air apart, and for a moment, Sasuke thought they were under attack. That was, of course, until he turned towards his friend with a glare, looking down at his embarrassed expression, and muttered quietly.

"Naruto… was that your stomach?"

The boy went red in the face, coughed once, then again, and quietly uttered the words "I have no idea what you're talking about."

There was a brief moment of silence as the two stared at one another.

"You want to go get some ramen?"

"…Sure."

/-/

"Okay… do you have any Jutsu that aren't snake related?"

Her teacher shot her an almost exhausted glare, one that carried no real malice, but certainly a heaping helping of irritation.

"Not a big snake fan?" The woman asked, a small smirk adorning her face, even with a small bit of residual annoyance hanging in her eyes.

"I've fought way too many giant snakes to ever want the tiny one's coming out of my sleeves, so…"

Anko snorted, seemingly thinking back on her own experiences with the things.

"Yeah, that's fair."

"So, do you have anything…" Sakura struggled to find a good word to use. "Regular?"

"Wow, super nice of you to say it like that." The woman deadpanned, lightly flicking Sakura in the forehead before bringing out a small scroll from her trench coat. She laid it down on the dirt below them, unfurling it so that she could begin to write. "Alright, what is it you'd like to learn?"

_That's… a surprisingly broad question._

"Huh?"

Anko laughed at her reaction, which led to Sakura pouting rather profusely, which, in turn, led to Anko laughing at her again. It was a vicious cycle, that only really ended once her mentor calmed down enough to keep speaking.

"Ok, so, I was thinking back to when I was being taught-"

"By Orochimaru, right?"

"By Orochimaru, yes, and what I can distinctly remember is thinking, like," Her mentor put her hands on her hips, imitating what Sakura could only guess was a younger Anko. "Why do I have to learn this? I'd way rather learn stuff that appeals to me, not some crap about snakes!", right?"

"I…" Sakura briefly considered the woman's words, before finding that she did, in fact, agree with them. "Yeah, I guess I do get that."

"So that's when I had this thought; 'Hey, I'll let Sakura choose what she wants to learn, that way, she'll come out as the ninja she wants to be'." Anko winked at her, smirking in the overconfident way she always did. "Sounds good, right?"

Sakura found herself smiling. The fact that Anko had actually thought about her, and decided to cater to what she wanted, was more than most of the teacher's she'd interacted with in her life had done for her, bar perhaps Kakashi.

"Yeah, that sounds great."

"So, I repeat, what is it you'd like to learn?"

"Wait… aren't you supposed to be teaching me about the curse mark?" She asked her mentor, feeling as if the woman had simply forgotten about it.

"To be honest," The woman spoke as she rubbed the back of her neck, seeming practically sheepish, which was an odd look on her mentor. "No one, except Orochimaru, I'd imagine, really knows all that much about them, other than that they enhance strength and grant the ability to gather nature chakra. So… I've kind of already taught you everything there is to know."

_That's kind of lame. _Inner Sakura lamented.

"So, back to my previous question, what is it you'd like to learn?"

Sakura thought about that for a while. What immediately came to mind was to become a ninja like Kakashi or Anko, one who worked from the shadows, stealthily assassinating targets, but she dismissed that a second later. It wasn't exactly her style, and she didn't really want to do it all that much either.

A second later, an old storybook her mother used to read to her popped into her head, and she said the first thing that came to mind.

"What about someone like Hashirama Senju?"

Anko's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, which Sakura thought was probably fair, given what she'd just said.

"I'm actually kind of shocked you know who that is." The woman said, smiling down at her as if she were a bit weird. "Where'd you hear about him?"

"Well, first of all, he's kind of on the village's stone monument… and they teach about all the Hokage's in the first year of classes." Sakura spoke as if it was kind of obvious. "And secondly, my mom used to read me a story about him before bed, like… every night til' I was 8."

"And are you basing your desire to be like him off of what is said in the book?" Anko asked, though Sakura could tell by the expression on the woman's face she thought her story was a bit ridiculous.

"Well, they say in the book that he was the strongest ninja to ever live, bar none, but… I'm pretty sure that's a part of history, too, right?"

Anko nodded.

"I suppose so, yeah. What else did they say about him in the story?"

"Well, the story said… and I assume these parts was a bit embellished… but it said that he once sprang up an entire forest in a single jutsu… Oh! and that he could heal wounds without even casting, and that he could create a golem the size of a small town, and that he once even fought the nine-tails all by himself!"

Anko laughed as Sakura's cheeks reddened, realizing her enthusiasm for one of her childhood heroes was leaking through a bit.

"S-sorry, anyways, is any of that realistic, or…?"

"If anything, I'd say they've undersold him a bit." Anko spoke with a serious expression.

Sakura practically gaped at the woman, who continued a second later.

"It's said that he fought Madara Uchiha, the only ninja who could've ever hoped to best him in combat, to the death, while the former was in possession of the Nine-Tails, and had it doing his bidding, and even still he defeated the man. Apparently, he could create a giant wooden avatar several times the size of a small village, though I think an entire forest is around accurate. The healing wounds thing is too, he could heal without any hand signs, he just did it passively."

Sakura felt an odd pride at her mentor's words, it was like hearing a close friend being complimented. She'd grown up on tall tales of Hashirama and his exploits, to hear them confirmed by someone of Anko's stature was… nice, in a way she couldn't quite describe.

"So, is that who you want to become?"

Sakura rubbed the back of her neck, feeling a reasonable doubt worm it's way into her heart.

"I… really don't think I can be quite that strong, but maybe just-"

"Why not?"

Her eyes widened as she looked up at her mentor, who looked down at her with a curious expression.

"W-what?"

"Why couldn't you be that strong?" The woman asked, taking a seat on the grassy dirt beneath her and drawing a small ink brush out of her trench coat, quickly jotting down a small symbol on the paper below her. "You think Hashirama Senju was a prodigy from birth?"

"Uhm… K-kinda?"

"Ok, you're most likely right there," Anko conceded with a nod of her head. "But that doesn't mean you can't work your ass off and try and become better!" The woman wrote something else on the paper before her, before turning it so that Sakura could see. "Let's see… your natures are earth and water, correct?"

"Well… Yeah, I suppose." Sakura spoke, not really seeing a point.

"Hashirama himself had the same natural types of chakra, earth and water. Now, he was proficient in all five, but It's theorized that his mastery of those two in particular is what allowed him to use the wood release, one of the most powerful Kekkei Genkai in all of existence."

_There's two words I've never heard before._

"Kekkei Genkai?"

"In it's simplest terms, the mixing of two or more natures into one creates a Kekkei Genkai, though I suppose that more than two is technically called a Kekkei Tota, but that's a whole 'nother bag of worms that I don't feel like ripping open, so for now, let's stick to the Genkai."

Sakura was already feeling a bit lost, but nodded to show she understood, at least for the most part.

"Anyways, whenever a user of the water and earth types shows up, extremely powerful ones, mind you, The Hokage usually likes to try and test if they can replicate the wood release." Anko gestured down towards the diagram below her. "It's never worked before, but, apparently, there's a wood release user in the Anbu, though from what I'm told, he's artificial."

Sakura couldn't quite see where her teacher was taking this entire conversation anymore but nodded anyways

"Wanna' see if you've got the aptitude for it?" Anko asked excitedly.

Sakura's expression seemed to give her away, though, because a second later, Anko once more reached over and flicked her in the forehead.

"Ow, hey!"

"You already think you can't do it, don't you?"

Sakura pouted.

_Of course not! _Her inner self seemed to scream out. _How am I going to do something that's never been done before!? I'm not secretly some super special ninja, alright!_

"I mean… I'm pretty sure they said that even his little brother, he himself a prodigy the world has never seen since, couldn't even manage it… so uhm… Yeah I don't really think **I** can do it."

"Bah, that's quitter talk!"

"It's realistic quitter talk."

"Just… give it a quick try. Here," The woman pushed the piece of paper forward, where two symbols indicated where she should place her palms upon it. "The idea is, you take a small seed…" The woman reached out her hand, and Sakura realized a second later that she was being asked for a seed to go along with this.

She reached into her trash bag from when the two of them had eaten lunch an hour or two ago and pulled out the rotting core of an apple. She reached inside of it and took one of it's seeds, handing it to Anko.

"And then, with your right hand, you pour water nature chakra from your right hand into the right side," Anko took Sakura's right hand and placed it correctly. "And then earth nature chakra from your left into the left side," She placed the left as well. "Or vice versa, And the idea is that if you possessed wood nature, the seed would sprout instantly."

Sakura sat in silence for a moment, before interrupting the impromptu exam with an argument of her own.

"Alright, well, I have a few problems with this test."

"Ok, sure," Anko nodded, smiling as if she'd expected this. "Hit me with them."

"First of all, what's to say that, even if I did hypothetically possess the ability to use the wood release, that this test just wouldn't work?" Sakura reasoned aloud, eyes narrowing as she did. "I mean, no one's ever learned wood release since Hashirama, and I doubt he created this exam, so what gives?"

"Actually, this comes from a test the Anbu did on their own artificial wood user." Anko fired back, smirking confidently. "They had him do this little examination, and the seed came to life after a few seconds."

"Alright, fine, that's all well and good." Sakura nodded, conceding that point. "Second problem."

"Yeah?"

"I can't split my chakra into two nature's at once like that." Sakura held her hands up, as if displaying her own inability. "So, I can't even begin to try this test."

Anko seemed to consider that for a moment, gently rubbing her chin with her right hand as she tried to figure out where it was she went wrong. After a few moments of contemplation, the woman let out a single word.

"Huh."

Sakura laughed at her teacher's expense, earning a small huff out of the woman, and another flick to her forehead, though that didn't do much to stop her giggling.

"Sorry, sorry."

"Nah," Anko spoke up a few seconds later, waving her hand as if dispelling Sakura's sentiment. "Honestly, I'm the one who should apologize. I've taught before, but I pretty much just coach Jonin on espionage techniques. Getting better with stealth, hiding their chakra, blending with the environment, that sort of thing."

The woman rubbed the back of her head, seeming a bit embarrassed as she continued.

"I guess I kind of forgot you wouldn't know all that much about chakra control and technique, even if you are a natural at it."

Now that had Sakura raising her eyebrows once more.

"A natural?" She asked, surprised at the notion. "Me?"

"Are you kidding?" Her mentor asked, disbelief evident on her face. "Kid, you're better with chakra control than most Chuunin I've seen, and hell, a few Jonin if I'm feeling a bit unkind towards them. You've honestly got a pretty good set-up for Genjutsu, if you felt like using that."

Sakura briefly considered that, before shaking her head.

"I've never really had that good of an imagination. Kakashi sensei tried to teach me some while we sat around in the Land of Waves, but I just had a really hard time grasping how to trap people inside something I make… It was weird."

Anko laughed a bit cruelly, holding up her hands in surrender a few seconds later as Sakura shot her another glare.

"Sorry, sorry. I just never pictured your downfall being 'imagination', of all things." The woman calmed down a bit, before asking again. "Anything else you'd like to learn about?"

"Well… what can I do with chakra control?"

"A lot, actually." Anko scooted over slightly so that she was sat just next to Sakura, bringing the scroll around so that they could both look at it and turning it until she got to a blank piece of the parchment. "If you'd like, I could go over a few things with you?"

Sakura felt warmth pass through her whole body at her mentors words. It was nice to have someone appreciating, complimenting, and paying attention to you. Even if she'd always had her parents, and knew that a lot of others didn't, she'd never really gotten on all that well with the other kid's her age, and Naruto and Sasuke had always been each other's best friends first. Ino was a special case of her own, usually helping out with her family's flower shop, which kept her busy a lot of the time.

Having Anko around was proving to be challenging in it's own ways. The woman could be a bit crass, for starters, but she couldn't deny that she truly valued having someone to give her advice who was actually similar to her, curse mark and all.

"Yeah, actually." Sakura recalled something from the start of their conversation, and felt like bringing it back up, since it had interested her at the time.

"You mentioned something called 'Nature Chakra' that comes from the curse seal, what is that exactly?"

"Ah," Anko smiled down at her. "Had your interest piqued, did you?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Sakura smiled back, preening a bit under the attention. "I'd just never heard the term before, what exactly is it?"

Anko smiled, before rising to her feet and offering a hand out to Sakura, which the girl took a second later.

"Unfortunately, I myself don't know all that much about it. It's not exactly a super well known art, the utilization of natural energy."

"Aw, that stinks." Sakura muttered, trying to think of something else she'd like to learn, before being interrupted by another flick to her forehead, which had her looking up into her master's face.

Anko was smiling widely.

"Luckily for you, though, there just so happens to be a… well, not expert, but a skilled user of natural chakra in the leaf right now."

"Really?" Sakura asked, turning her head slightly. "Who's that?"

"Hmm" Anko let out a second later, pondering something for a few seconds, before her eyes narrowed, and a devious grin bloomed upon her features.

"Why don't we go meet with him?"

**End Chapter 25**

* * *

**Hello, hello!**

**Loooot's of set-up this chapter, but we've also got some Naruto and Sasuke bonding, which is kind of the raw essence of this story, so it was fun to write the two of them some more.**

****(Side note: I feel like I took a ton of risks with this chapter, and I wouldn't mind some feedback regarding content, so if you enjoyed some of the things brought up in this chapter, I wouldn't mind hearing about it. Alternatively, if you thought this entire chapter was stupid, I wouldn't mind hearing that as well!)****

**So, how much of what Anko and Sakura talked about will be realized? Will any of it be at all? And can Sasuke keep his promise to Naruto?**

**I don't know (That's a lie, I actually do). Keep reading I guess.**

**See you all next week!**


	26. Chapter 26

**Yo!**

**Last set-up chapter before the Arena Fights, and the subsequent brawls that will ensue. Some things will change, others will remain the same. Which will be which?**

**Well, you'll probably have to keep reading to find out.**

**...Though that does seem like a bit of a given at this point.**

* * *

**Chapter 26: Final Preparations**

* * *

"You want to learn what?"

"You heard me." Anko responded coyly, smirking with a confidence that practically screamed she was in charge. "I asked if you'd teach the kid a bit about natural energy."

The man before them sighed wearily, eyeing Sakura with exhaustion clearly set upon his face, before setting both of his hands on his knees and pushing himself to his feet.

"You do know I'm no expert myself, right?"

"You're still the best the girl's going to get, at least in this place."

The Giant chuckled.

"I suppose you're right." Jiraiya of the Sannin turned towards her, looked her up and down, and nodded. "Alright, well, if I avoid that blonde brat any longer, I think he'll nearly kill himself again, so I'll tell you about this crap where I can watch him. Hell, maybe he could stand to learn some of this, too."

The man said something else under his breath that Sakura didn't quite catch, but it sounded like a complaint about being "stuck with two brats, now".

As they began to walk, Sakura spared a moment to take in the scenery as Jiraiya led them deeper into the forest. The leaf wasn't a particularly mountainous region, but that didn't stop it from having it's own heights. The ones around them jutted up perhaps a hundred feet, though Sakura couldn't help but be particularly drawn to a waterfall that cut through a canyon just beyond them.

It was high! or, at the very least, higher than any Sakura had ever seen. It was carved into the side of the canyon wall by, according to what she'd learned in school, the sheer tenacity of the stream itself.

The water itself lacked the strength to cut through stone, but it kept going. over and over, until eventually, it succeeded.

"Hmph." Sakura laughed quietly, causing her mentor to turn towards her with a curious look.

"What's got you so amused?"

"Oh, nothing." Sakura lied, waving her hand to dispel the woman's question.

_I'm just reminded of a certain blonde I know._

As their small journey was reaching it's end, and their conversation along with it, a small detail Jiraiya had mentioned earlier came to the forefront of Sakura's thoughts.

"Wait… he nearly killed himself?" Sakura asked as they neared the end of their small walk.

"He summoned a giant frog on top of himself." Jiraiya spoke as he chuckled. "It would've been far funnier at the time, if I hadn't thought he was dead."

"Sheesh." Sakura giggled to herself, trying to muffle the sound into the back of her hand. "How big was the thing to nearly crush him?"

Jiraiya seemed to contemplate that for a moment, gazing up at the watery cliff face beyond them, and then pointing at it a second later.

"A bit shorter than that." He spoke, without a hint of mirth.

Anko laughed at Sakura's expression, walking over to her and throwing an arm around her shoulder.

"Summoning Jutsu can bring out some pretty crazy stuff." The woman remarked through her giggling, as if the statement explained everything.

They emerged into a clearing about a minute later, and immediately came face to face with an angry, shirtless Naruto.

"OI! Old Frog Guy!" The boy shouted. "Where the hell were you!? I've been sitting under the waterfall like you said for an hour! My shoulders are killing me!"

"Wait, he took that seriously?" Jiraiya murmured under his breath, before laughing awkwardly and rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry about that, these two were distracting me from your training."

Both Anko and Sakura shot the man a fierce glare, one which he avoiding entirely by stepping forward and away from the two of them. Luckily, it seemed that even Naruto wasn't so naïve as to fall for that excuse.

"Yeah, I'm sure Sakura definitely interrupted you." The blonde boy deadpanned, staring up at his teacher with narrowed eyes. "She's totally the type."

"Anyways!" Jiraiya exclaimed before his own choices could catch up with him. "Naruto, you go ahead and sit down here, too. I'm going to talk to you about something really quick."

"Oh, are you actually going to teach me something non-frog related!?"

Sakura tried not to laugh at how excited the boy sounded about that, and at how annoyed Jiraiya was with the comment, but couldn't quite manage it. Luckily, her own laughter was eclipsed by Anko's, who loudly cackled at the exchange, taking more than a few seconds to berate the sage for his teaching methods.

"Dumb kids…" Jiraiya muttered under his breath as he glared at the three of them. "Minato never complained about frogs…"

"Who's that?" Naruto asked curiously.

"No one important." Jiraiya spoke, smiling lazily at the boy. "Now, I have to confess that I'm no expert at this stuff, even if I am maybe the only person this side of the continent that could teach it to you."

Sakura didn't miss how Naruto went from uninterested to paying rapt attention in half a second. Apparently, learning a rare and mystical art appealed to the boy, even more than Sakura had thought it would.

"Naruto, I've already explained this to the two of them, but what I'm talking about is natural chakra."

At this, Naruto threw up his hands, falling backwards and whining like a small child.

"Not more crappy nature stuff! Show me how to blow up a whole army of bad guys with fire! I'm tired of learning about crappy frogs!"

Sakura almost apologized to the man before her, so embarrassed was she by her teammates actions, but the man beat her to it, standing up and grabbing Naruto by the leg, before literally dragging him back to where they'd been just a second before. He stood the boy up, brushed his own clothes off, and cleared his throat.

"Now, before my student so rudely interrupted, I was going to talk about Natural chakra." Naruto looked like he wanted to complain again, but a stern look from his mentor had him keeping quiet. "Right, so, you all already understand that chakra is made up of two forces, physical energy and spiritual energy, correct?"

Sakura nodded, noticing out of the corner of her eye that even Anko seemed to be paying attention.

_I wonder… is she trying to figure something out about Natural chakra as well?_ Sakura pondered. _It does make sense; she has her own curse mark to worry about, after all.  
_

"Alright, so… Natural energy is something else you add to the mix, creating a third… uhm…" The man seemed to be struggling with how to describe the substance, but a second later, he brought out a small scroll from his coat, set it down on his lap, and quickly sketched something out. "Alright, see this?"

On the paper was a simple drawing of a Yin Yang symbol. One half read 'Physical' and the other 'Spiritual'.

"Yeah." The three of them responded.

"Alright, so, when you add natural chakra to the mix…" The man took a quick second to make another sketch and held the parchment up to the three of them again. "You're essentially adding another pool of chakra from which to pull from, and, most importantly, one that isn't your own."

This diagram showed the same previous sections, making up two-thirds of the pie chart before them, and another section, this one labeled 'Natural'.

"Doing this, of course, has a lot of advantages." Jiraiya told them simply. "Those who earn the title sage can use a variety of Sage arts, though those are a little more advanced then I'll be covering here. Instead, I think I'll tell you about it's weaknesses."

"Wait… it has weaknesses?" Naruto questioned, scratching his head confusedly. "What's weak about having more chakra?"

"Well, the gathering of natural chakra in and of itself is incredibly difficult, time consuming, and dangerous. Using it in the field without proper set up, even by a master of the art, would be akin to suicide."

"Why's that?" Sakura asked after a moment.

The man before them sighed, seemingly struggling to explain this to them without getting too nitty-gritty.

"Basically, in order to gather natural energy, you've first got to remain perfectly still."

Sakura's eyes widened at that.

_Then how the hell are you supposed to use it!? _Her inner self seemed to scream. _If I can't move, I'm just a damn sitting duck!_

"Then, even if you do manage to gather _some _natural chakra, if it doesn't properly balance out against your spiritual and physical energies, it basically just evaporates." The man smirked lightly, before staring up at the three of them as if he were telling a ghost story around a campfire. "And if you gather too much, you're turned to stone!"

Naruto laughed loudly, seemingly in disbelief that such a power could have as harsh a drawback as Jiraiya claimed.

"I'm completely serious." The boy's teacher spoke a second later.

At that, Naruto's laughter died an ugly death, and he scowled up at the sage rather fiercely.

"Why the hell tell us about this damned stuff if all it's got is weaknesses?"

"Because the strengths it does have are pretty damn powerful." Jiraiya spoke casually. "And because these two asked me." The man said through a smile, pointing at Sakura and her teacher with thumb.

"Wait, why would you guys want to know about this crap?" Naruto asked as he turned towards the two of them, eyeing them curiously.

"That'd be because of our curse marks." Anko admitted simply. "It's been a while since the Leaf's technicians ran tests on mine, but they said that, apparently, the thing is able to take in… or… wait… was it produce… well, whatever, natural chakra was involved somewhere along the line."

"Wait… so you and Sakura are drawing in this… natural chakra stuff?" Naruto asked, expression oddly worried.

"Uhm… yeah, I guess?"

"OI! Frog Guy!" Naruto turned back around, grabbing Jiraiya by the coat and lamenting rather loudly. "You've gotta do something! I don't want my friend getting turned into stone!"

"Gah!" Jiraiya shoved the boy away by his face, dusting his coat off with both hands. "Get your grubby paws off! Their curse marks work with natural chakra way differently!"

At that, Naruto instantly calmed down, sitting back down and asking another question as if he hadn't just thrown a fit.

"What does that mean? How's it changed?"

Jiraiya glared at the boy, but seemed to give up his grudge a second later.

"Honestly kid, I wish I knew." Jiraiya sighed, rubbing the back of his head with his right hand. "Orochimaru didn't exactly leave a guide on what the curse mark is, and we can only really learn what the specialists tell us. But even they don't have the kind of knowledge that bastard does."

"Suffice it to say," Anko continued where Jiraiya had left off. "Unless my old teacher decides to hand us a pamphlet, we have to learn this stuff on our own. Which is why we're here, learning as much as we can."

"If I'm being completely honest," Jiraiya spoke after a second or two. "I don't really think either of you have the build to gather nature chakra the old-fashioned way."

"Why's that?" Sakura asked, feeling a small twinge of disappointment.

"Simply put, your chakra pool isn't very large. To make up for that, you've got control of it in spades, but nature chakra is dangerous to handle, because you have to gather enough so that it becomes almost exactly a third, without going too far either way, or else you get turned to stone." Jiraiya pointed at the two of them. "If you only gathered a small amount of nature chakra, it might be enough to keep you below the limit, but even then, it wouldn't be enough chakra to do anything with, does that make sense?"

"Yeah, I got it." Anko answered after a moment, looking down at Sakura. "You understand?"

"Mhm."

"If anything," Jiraiya added, looking over at his pupil and giving a lazy smile. "I'd say the only one here that actually has what it takes is Naruto."

Naruto's eyes became comically wide, and the boy shot straight up, pointing a finger into his own chest.

"Me!?"

All three of them chuckled a bit at that, as Jiraiya stood up and pointed at the boy.

"You. You've got the reserves necessary for natural chakra to last a while, and you've got the mind to figure out a way to use it in combat. I'd say your biggest problem is a lack of control, but that'll come with time."

Naruto seemed stunned that someone had said something positive about him, and he sat in silence for a few moments, seemingly thinking about his master's words.

"So…" Sakura chimed in after a moment, her voice low. "Does that mean I'm probably not cut out to use natural chakra?"

"Yeah, unfortunately, that's probably the case." Jiraiya admitted. "Sorry about that, didn't mean to ruin your excitement."

"Oh, no, sir!" Sakura exclaimed, bowing a second later. "We very much appreciate your insight."

"Heh, look at that." The sage spoke with a twinge of annoyance in his voice. "Looks like Anko's student can show respect, so why does mine only call me 'Frog Guy' and 'Pervy Sage'!?"

That seemed like a can of worms that Sakura didn't want to open, and as the conversation began to wind down, she turned to look up at Anko and nodded her head, letting the woman know she was okay to leave.

"Alright, well, on that note, the two of us will be heading out." Her mentor called to the other duo, waving a hand lazily as she turned around and set off down the path they'd taken to get here. "Good luck in the exams next week!"

"Heh, you as well." Jiraiya called back.

"Good luck, Sakura!"

"You too, Naruto!"

They walked in silence for quite a while, Anko leading them through dense thickets and trees as they backtracked. It was only after a while that a solitary, quiet thought entered her head.

"Could Hashirama use natural chakra?" Sakura asked.

Anko snorted.

"The legends have him using just about every jutsu in existence, so I'm sure there are a few where he used natural chakra…" Her teacher slowed slightly, turning to look back at her. "But if you're asking if he actually used it? I don't know."

"Ah… yeah!" Sakura's feigned enthusiasm sounded a bit strained, even to her. "Sorry for bringing it up, I just…"

"You're disappointed."

Sakura looked up, not surprised, but a bit sad that Anko had managed to see through her.

"Sorry…" She muttered quietly.

"You have nothing to apologize for." The woman looked towards her, smiling reassuringly. "It's not easy to be told you can't do something, especially when it isn't your fault at all. That's even more the case when it's something you've set your sights on."

Sakura didn't speak for a while, her emotions leaving her feeling not sad, but empty instead. After a little while longer, and after they'd cleared most of the trees, Sakura found herself wondering something.

"Uhm… Anko sensei?"

The woman turned around, a curious expression adorning her face.

"What's up?"

"Was there ever anything… anything you couldn't do?"

Anko's face contorted oddly, before, a second later, the woman burst into a fit of laughter, hanging onto Sakura to support her shaky frame as she did.

"Hey! Sensei!" Sakura complained, finding her balance completely off. "You're going to make me f-AAAAH!"

A second later they were both on the ground, and Sakura was fumbling around and trying to remove her teacher from her chest, shaking wildly to dislodge the shaking woman. When she finally removed the weight from on top of her, and said weight finally stopped laughing, Sakura was left panting for air, staring at Anko beside her annoyedly.

"My bad, my bad." Her teacher called out, still laughing even as she lay prone on the ground next to her. "I guess… that just caught me by surprise is all."

"My question?"

"No, a stray rock." Anko deadpanned, before lightly flicking her forehead. "Of course, your question!"

"S-sorry." Sakura choked out a moment later, still catching her breath from the fall. "I didn't mean to-"

"Dumby, don't apologize." Her mentor's tone was surprisingly gentle, and just like every other time when Anko was kind to her, it seemed to catch Sakura off guard. "But… to answer your question, yes, there were of course things that I couldn't do."

She turned on her side, propping herself up with her arms, and looked the woman beside her in the eye.

"Even things you really wanted to do?" Sakura asked quietly.

Anko's expression darkened minutely, and for a second Sakura thought she'd finally pushed too far. A moment later, however, the expression was gone, replaced by one that spoke only of exhaustion.

"Yeah… what I really wanted to do was bring my mentor… to bring Orochimaru back to the Leaf Village." Anko admitted after a few seconds. "He experimented on me, experimented on countless others, killed ninjas, civilians, even kids, all in the name of some goal that I never even found out about… and whenever I found him in the forest of death, even with all of my training, I…"

There was a weighty silence that pooled between them, and Sakura briefly thought that Anko would stop there. Her mentor continued, however, despite how much it seemed she didn't want to.

"I was still scared of him." Anko finally let out, eyes lidded and expression sad as she dredged up bad memories. "Even after all the effort I'd gone through, steeling myself for our inevitable encounter, when we finally met, I shook in my damned boots."

Sakura's eyed widened at her mentor's words, but she remained silent and let the woman keep speaking.

"And then Jiraiya showed up to bail me out, and the moment he did, Orochimaru got this look on his face…" Anko ground her teeth together, and the sound caused Sakura to cringe slightly. "He respected Jiraiya, he _feared _Jiraiya… And yet I could see from the way he looked at me… There was none of that, there. He thought of me like a Genin… just someone to throw aside."

Anko was quiet for a while, panting as Sakura thought of what to say in return.

"We seem a lot alike." Sakura spoke without meaning to, covering her mouth a second later. "Sorry, I-I didn't mean-"

"Heh." Anko turned towards her, bracing her own frame on her arms and looking her in the eye. "Yeah, I suppose we do." The woman sat up, sitting crisscross on the grassy floor beneath her. "After that… I lashed out at Jiraiya without really meaning to… and he came up with the idea for me to train you… and I guess I was feeling guilty, because I agreed without much of a fight, despite this being a bit different from what I'm normally up to."

"I think it worked out pretty well, though." Sakura spoke with a small smile.

Anko returned it with one of her own.

"Yeah, I guess it did." Her mentor admitted with a smile. "How about this… we'll both work on becoming stronger, so that we can overcome our obstacles. I'll get strong enough to defeat Orochimaru, and you get strong enough so that you leave your teammates in the dust."

Sakura laughed, wiping away a small tear from her eye as she did.

"Sounds good, Sensei."

"Awesome." The woman said. "Now, c'mon, I got an interesting message from the Hokage a week or two ago about some odd arrivals, and now they're finally ready for some visitors." Anko stood, dusted herself off, and offered her hand out to Sakura.

"Wait, visitors? Who are you talking about?"

"Hmph." Anko laughed in a way that had Sakura feeling mighty suspicious. "Just follow me, I'll show you."

/-/

Zaku paced quietly around the Hokage's office, trying his best to remain patient, and not freak out about having essentially been under house arrest for a little under two weeks.

"Zaku, would you quit it!?" Kin spoke up annoyedly, groaning for what must've been the thousandth time. "You're going to wear a hole in the damn floor!"

"Well, it's not my fault we've been locked in here!" Zaku hissed back, his anger at their situation easily flowing into his words.

"Well it **is **your fault that you're annoying me half to death with your incessant pacing!"

"Would you guys be quiet!?" Dosu shouted from a bench at the back of the room, where he'd been laying down, trying to go back to sleep once more. "Not all of us want to hear your whining!"

"Dosu, if you don't shut your damned-"

"Zaku, stop pacing, or I will come over there and-"

"The both of you, shut the fu-"

A light and airy laugh cut the three of them off, and they all turned towards the desk in the center of the room, where the Hokage sat quietly, gazing over at all of them and still, even despite his age, smiling vibrantly.

"My apologies, it is just… the three of you remind me so much of a team I taught ages ago." The Hokage's eyes glinted ever so slightly as he smiled widely. "Right down to the constant arguments."

The man's words seemed to halt all of them, for whatever they'd been arguing about before seemed to disappear, instead replaced by even more questions.

"Who… would that be, sir?" Kin asked after a second or two, eyes curious, but holding a guess within them, like she already knew the answer.

"The Sannin, or, well, at that time, I suppose they were known as Team Hiruzen." The old man laughed quietly, as if sharing an inside joke with himself. "As much as they hated going by my name."

"W-wait!" Zaku interjected, looking up at the Hokage with disbelief. "Us? We remind you of the Sannin!?"

The old man before them smiled brightly.

"I do not mean in terms of experience, or in capability, but more in personality. I have, after all, not seen any of you fight." The man's easy smile had even Zaku relaxing somewhat, disarming the three of them with only words. "Perhaps you are secretly as strong as they were, hm?"

Dosu let out a quiet laugh at the man's words.

"I can safely say that's not the case, we were easily overwhelmed by Kabuto on his own two weeks ago."

"You mean _You _were easily overwhelmed." Kin accused. "Zaku and I were more than capable of holding our own."

Zaku cringed as those two got into yet another argument. He couldn't really blame Kin for her aggressive attitude towards the other boy, if anything, he had to commend her. He couldn't imagine what it must've felt like to have a friend try to kill you, and then have to work with that friend barely 10 minutes later.

The fact that she was willing to put up with Dosu at all was perhaps a miracle, and one Zaku could appreciate, even if it wasn't exactly what he would've preferred.

_People are hard. _A part of Zaku's brain supplied helpfully.

"Now for something decidedly less fun." The Hokage interrupted, eyes glinting not with amusement, but with complete seriousness. "In a few hours, I will be allowing the three of you to leave this room, but I would ask for your own safety that you stick to this building. You have, rather obviously, guessed why you three are stuck in here, correct?"

"Well, yeah." Kin shrugged as if it was obvious. "You're keeping us safe from any counterattack Orochimaru could make to try and silence us."

"That is correct, but there is actually another reason as well."

That had their attention. None of them wanted to be caught unaware against what they all assumed would be a formidable enemy.

"When you are walking the halls, you may very well meet a man about as old as I am, with jet black hair, and a patch over his right eye." Suddenly, the Hokage's expression became grim, and his eyes narrowed. "If you encounter this man, ignore anything he tells you. Immediately return here, preferably as a group if you are able."

There was complete silence for a while as they all thought about what that could mean. Was there a Shinobi under Orochimaru so powerful, so feared, that he could manage to get into even this compound, infiltrate under the Hokage's nose, and kill them?

_No, _A more logical part of Zaku supplied. _If there was, then Orochimaru would have no need to fear him as much as he does…_

_But then what does that make our mysterious assailant?_

A knock on the door behind them had them all jumping, and Zaku thought he heard even the Hokage breathing hard as they looked backwards. When the mysterious visitor entered the room, Zaku was surprised to find it was a woman in her mid-twenties, and a small girl.

A small girl that he knew.

It was Dosu that reacted first, sitting up from his bench and peering over at the new entries.

"Isn't that…"

"The girl from the forest." Kin muttered, glaring heavily at the girl in question. "Good to see another person that tried to kill me."

The member of Team 7, Sakura, if he recalled correctly, had an interesting concoction of emotion playing across her face. She looked like she felt terrible about what she'd done, like she felt what she'd done was the right thing, and that she was confused as hell about why they were here.

All of those seemed to check out, from Zaku's perspective.

"You three…" Sakura spoke under her breath, looking up to the woman beside her and asking her a silent question.

"I eh… actually don't know the full story." The woman rubbed the back of her neck, smiling over at the Hokage with a bit of a dumb grin. "Yo! Old timer, can you explain how this all happened?"

"They've come to us for aid after one of their number was sentenced to death by Orochimaru." The Hokage spoke, narrowing his eyes. "And Anko, I would ask that you refer to me as the Hokage, at the very least."

"Right, right, fine." The woman, Anko, shook her hand, before turning back to the three of them and smiling. "Still, surprised you guys had that kind of loyalty to one another, most groups like Orochimaru's resort to actively preventing strong relationships. Makes it easier for them to turn you on each other, y'know?"

"Yeah, well, you can ask Zaku about that one." Dosu spoke, still sounding a bit annoyed at him. "He's the one who went all "friendship is power" on us."

"Shut up!" He snapped at the boy, who merely laughed at him as he laid back down, content that the new arrivals weren't going to try and kill them.

"He does have a point." Kin said as she smiled over at him. "You're the one who came up with all this. Probably the reason we're still alive, too."

"So, you ended up leaving him after all?"

Zaku turned to look Sakura in the eyes, gazing straight at her, and remembering back to when she'd first suggested they run away from Orochimaru, back during the Chuunin Exams, and how he'd berated her fiercely for it.

_Heh, _Zaku mused. _Guess she was right, in a way._

"Yeah. We did."

Sakura smiled at that, an honest, pure smile, one that carried no baggage along with it. Even now, when he could admit she was right in some things, that smile still managed to annoy him.

"Well… I'm happy for you all." The girl spoke simply. "I'm… not actually sure what to say now, but…"

Zaku snorted.

"I don't even know why you're here to be honest."

"Ah, that'd be my fault." Anko spoke up, raising her hand lazily. "Sakura mentioned you guys talked once, and that you said some interesting stuff, so I thought it'd be cool to reunite you."

"…Thanks for the assist?" Zaku added after a moment.

"Uhm…" Sakura tried to speak after a minute or two of awkward conversation, turning towards Kin and sputtering with her words.

"Out with it." The girl said, unamused.

"I-I'm sorry I tried to kill you…" The girl murmured quietly. "I won't say I wasn't myself… but I at the very least shouldn't have-"

"Save it."

Sakura looked up after having been interrupted with a desolate expression, fearing that she would be dismissed, but found Kin smiling lazily down at her.

"Honestly, at the time, I probably deserved it. I was, after all, threatening your life, as well as your friends. You had every right to point a blade at me." The girl looked over towards Dosu, eyes narrowing once more. "No, you're not the one I want an apology from."

"Really!?" Dosu exclaimed, spreading his arms wide in disbelief. "You're bringing this up again!?"

"You tried to kill me!" Kin shouted. "And **you're **supposed to be on my side!"

"I already said I was sorry!"

"You said it half-heartedly and you know it!"

"Ahem." The Hokage spoke up once more, effectively ending the argument before it could start. "Since you're all here, I'd actually like to speak about the upcoming Chuunin Exams. Zaku Abumi, Dosu Kinuta."

He and Dosu turned towards the man, wondering what it was he'd say.

"The two of you would be at risk inside the stadium, easy targets for more skilled ninja to pick you off. Instead, you will be sitting out of the exams."

Zaku wasn't exactly disappointed about such a development. He didn't exactly care about them now that his life wasn't on the line.

"We will be announcing that the two of you were found using an illegal substance, one that was banned from the exams, which allowed you an unfair advtanage over the competition. Thusly, we will be adding Shino Aburame into the third round, to replace Zaku."

"What about my opponent?" Dosu asked curiously. "Don't get me wrong or anything, I don't think he's better than that bug guy, but is that the only reason he's getting selected?"

"Actually yes, that is the only reason." The Hokage commented, smiling. "Choji Akimichi proved much less of a challenge to defeat than Mr. Aburame, thusly, he has been left in the second stage, whilst Mr. Aburame will be pushed into the third."

"Remember kids," Kin brought up, pointing to the two of them with a smile. "Don't do drugs."

Zaku found himself smiling at the lighthearted joke, and he couldn't quite tell past Dosu's bandaged face, but he thought they were more scrunched up than usual.

"With that, the new bracket will look much the same, however, Miss Tenten of Team Guy will be facing off with Shino Aburame in the final match of the day."

"Understood." He and Dosu agreed.

"Thank you, you two. I appreciate your cooperation these past two weeks. I know our circumstances were not always ideal, but it is my wish that you will one day come to call the Leaf Village your home, just the same as the rest of us do."

Zaku felt a small bit of doubt at that. He'd done nothing but drift his entire life, being taken, rather than going to, new places. The idea that he'd found a permanent home seemed laughable at best, so he'd do himself a favor and not put any stock into the Hokage's words.

"For now, let us rest, and prepare." The Hokage breathed out, standing up and turning his back to the three of them, effectively ending the conversation. "I will be having meetings for the rest of the day regarding the events that shall come to pass in a week's time. I would ask not to be interrupted," He turned his head to look at Zaku, Dosu, and Kin. "Unless in the event of an emergency."

"Yes sir!" Sakura and her mentor answered, and the Three sound ninja nodded towards the man, bowing slightly to show their thanks. They filed out one by one,

Last to go was Zaku himself, taking one final look behind him at the Third Hokage, facing out towards the window.

It was strange, but looking at that old man's silhouette against the sunset, Zaku couldn't help but feel the smallest bit solemn.

As if the person before him was, somehow, already fading.

/-/

Orochimaru stood in the forests outside of Konoha, tens of miles from the nearest civilized region. It was, of course, the only place where he could know without a shadow of a doubt he would not be seen.

The same went for the one he was meeting with.

"To think you would arrive a minute late." Orochimaru gave a quiet "tsk". "Your standards have certainly fallen over these long years, Danzo."

"Cease your incessant musings." The man emerged from behind a tree, flanked, as usual, by two armed guards. "You would do well to remember who helped you during your time in Konoha."

"And you would do well to remember who kept you there." Orochimaru smiled, though it held no joy behind it. "I seem to recall you always called on me to clean up after your messes."

"That was a long time ago." The man claimed simply. "Now, why am I here?"

Orochimaru could respect that, at least, about the man in front of him. His bastardized love for that damned village aside, he was punctual, got the job done, and only ever looked out for himself and his village. There was a certain layer of trust you could have in someone like that.

Trust that you could not trust them.

That was fine, it had been quite a while since Orochimaru trusted anyone at all. Even Kabuto, his right-hand man, was only trusted in the sense that he knew the boy would achieve whatever mission he set for him. Nothing more, nothing less.

"It's no secret that you want to be in charge of Konoha. What I'm proposing is simple… You pull your Root Ninja out of the battle in a week's time, and keep them out of my Sound Ninja's way. If you do that, you get to sweep in from behind after I've killed the Hokage, save the day by decimating my troops, and be proclaimed a hero." Orochimaru grinned, knowing that his words would be enough to entice the man before him. "How does that sound?"

Danzo stood quietly for almost a minute, taking in the breeze around them and thinking hard about his options. His soldiers, the mindless puppets around them that stood ramrod straight, said nothing.

Orochimaru was fairly sure that Danzo could've killed the soldier to his right, and the one to his left wouldn't so much as blink.

"Alright." Danzo said after what seemed like an eternity. "I will agree to your terms on one other condition."

"Alright, let me hear it, then."

"Keep civilian casualties to a minimum." Danzo spoke simply. "My being Hokage would have no meaning, were there no one for me to rule over."

"I assume you are insinuating that I should not attack the wall from behind?"

"I will urge the Hokage to send half of his troops to the outer walls, in order to prevent an attack from behind." Danzo added. "In return, you will receive a far easier attack from the front. I assume these terms are agreeable?"

Orochimaru smirked once more, smiling over at the man as the wind billowed through their small clearing, whipping the long weeds below them in waves.

"Indeed. That is all I have to say. I suppose I will be seeing you next week." He smiled, turning away and letting the others disperse.

When he could no longer sense their presences, Orochimaru melted into the earth. He traveled far, another mile or two, before he felt confident enough to stop.

He emerged into a far larger clearing than last time. This one was what seemed to be a field, though importantly, not one that was actively used for farming. He wouldn't want a nearby villager to find their crops disturbed and report this, after all.

"Now, one more meeting tonight, and I'm all finished up."

He brought his right thumb to his mouth and sunk his fangs into it. A second later, he slammed his hand into the earth, and shouted out.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

An explosion of white smoke filled the clearing, and a low, rumbling noise that sounded almost like an earthquake filled the night.

It was not an earthquake, however, even if the land did shake beneath him as the sound filled the air.

It was a hiss.

"It's been an awfully long time…"

Orochimaru smiled, teeth showing out from under his lips.

"Manda."

**End Chapter 26**

* * *

**Alright!**

**Another week, another chapter.**

**I will admit that I struggled a lot with writing that first part. I don't exactly know why, I think I was just exhausted last night.**

**Worlds have officially begun for League of Legends, and, as is tradition, North America has already begun to disappoint me.**

**Sorry, I won't ramble.**

**Anyways, Next chapter, The Chuunin Exams Third Stage Begins!**

**See you all next week!**

* * *

**Minor Edit: Thanks to Scarease for pointing out that ninja villages do not, in fact, vote on their Hokage. Changed that line, Much appreciated!**


	27. Chapter 27

**Yo!**

**Actually nothing to say. Chuunin Exams begin, We've got the last few set-ups for our upcoming character arcs, and with that, it's time to go!**

**Without further ado, and whatnot. **

* * *

**Chapter 27: Last Call**

* * *

"Remind me again why we're here so early?"

"Because this is a ninja village." Kakashi replied blandly, leading them through the packed crowds surrounding the Chuunin Exam's third site with a practiced ease. "The clock starts a lot earlier for professionals than it does you guys."

"No, not that." Sasuke said, the scowl on his face only making the bags under his eyes that much more noticeable. "I'm asking you why **you're **dragging us here two hours earlier than the starting time!"

"Oh, that?" The man before them smiled sweetly, in a way Sasuke could tell was oh so fake. "Why, it's only proper for us all to arrive as early as possible! We'll be able to get the best seats in the house that way!"

"We're competing." Sakura deadpanned quietly, before smothering a yawn that emerged from her mouth with her fist. "You aren't."

"Exactly!" Their teacher exclaimed with far too much energy. "Which is exactly why I need the best seat I can get!"

"You're doing this just to screw with us, aren't you?"

Kakashi's expression was that of a door to door salesman, filled with nothing but fake enthusiasm, badly disguising a horrid cynicism.

"I can neither confirm nor deny-"

"I hate you." Sakura spoke simply, eyeing the man with a righteous contempt.

"That's not really the reason, is it." Sasuke guessed with a sigh.

Kakashi smirked, nodding minutely to indicate he was right.

"Simply put, you're the last Uchiha. You being in the tournament draws a lot of attention from all over the place." Kakashi outlined. "You showing up early presents you as a respectable young man, or, that's what Lord Third told me. I was honestly just going to ignore him, but he seemed a lot more serious than normal, so here you are."

Sasuke sighed but nodded. It had been an awfully long time since being the last of the Uchiha had mattered in the slightest, at least from what he'd seen. He'd graduated from school, and from then on, no one had really treated him all that different. Hell, most of the people they met on missions had never even heard his name.

It was nice, in it's own way.

"Wait, Sensei!" Sakura suddenly shouted, pointing to herself. "Why do I have to be so early too!?"

"Do you want me to answer honestly, Sakura?" The man asked, turning towards her with an candid expression.

"…Yes?"

"Because if I was going to have to be miserable having to come here 3 hours early with Sasuke, then the rest of you guys sure as hell had to be miserable, too."

They both met Kakashi's gaze with disappointed glares, as if they'd expected better of their teacher, but from Kakashi's single exposed eye, they could sense no regret, only an annoying smugness.

As they continued walking, and got closer to the main coliseum, Sasuke couldn't help but be slightly amazed at what he saw. The people lined up in droves around makeshift stalls that hadn't been there for more than two or three days, and the merchants behind them seemed to be making more today than they had the entirety of last month combined.

It was at times like these that he understood why the title to bear the Chuunin Exams was such a sought-after commodity. The tourism alone brought countless profits to the village, and even food stalls flourished during the few days surrounding the event.

The loud hustle and bustle couldn't help but remind him of someone, however. Even more specifically, it reminded him of that someone's odd absence.

"Hey… where's Naruto?" Sasuke asked after a little while longer of walking, taking his eyes off of the curiosities surrounding them and looking up at their teacher. "Shouldn't you have dragged him here too?"

The man looked back down at him, and gave a small shrug of his shoulders.

"He was practically dead when I tried to wake him up. I assume that Jiraiya might've had him out doing some last-minute warm-ups." Kakashi shrugged a second time. "Either way, He's out of my hands, I didn't feel like carrying him."

Sasuke couldn't help but think the man was being a tad bit dismissive of his duties as a teacher, but he didn't feel like bringing that up. He wasn't worried Naruto would miss the event without Kakashi's interference. He had enough faith in Naruto's competitive spirit to know that even if the boy had to drag himself to the arena by his teeth, he'd still make it.

_Wouldn't even let me skip our duels when it was hailing. _Sasuke remembered with a small chuckle. _And of course, we both got colds._

Even a few years later, the memories of their daily spars still made him smile. It had become something of a routine for the two after he'd asked Naruto if he wanted to train a few weeks into their friendship. He hadn't expected such an emphatic 'Yes!' from the boy, but with the benefit of hindsight, it was obvious why his friend had accepted.

At that time, Naruto had hated how far behind everyone else he was, and had relished, with an almost unhealthy fervor, the victories he did manage to claw out. Fiercely competitive, and yet lacking the skills to back it up. Naturally he'd jumped at his first chance to get better.

They'd stopped around halfway into their last year of schooling, after Naruto had started to land a lot more hits on him than he used to, and the strain, combined with his usual daily training, was becoming a little too much to bear.

"Alright, we're here."

Kakashi's words had him back in the present, and a second later he could confirm with his own eyes what the man had said. The crowds had been growing thicker by the minute, but as they finally arrived at the stadium, and were given an express passage in by the ninja's standing guard, they'd broken away from the large masses of people. Now they were flanked only by other adult ninja, likely present to protect the arena's interior from any insurgent threats.

After about a minute of walking through the quiet halls, the came to a crossroads, and Sasuke gave a brief glance towards the twin signs hanging above both sides which read "Audience Seating" and "Competitor Area".

"Well, you two," Kakashi spoke, turning to look towards him and Sakura with a small smile bending the fabric of his mask. "I wish you the best of luck."

"Don't worry," Sakura exclaimed, giving the man a thumbs up and a toothy smile. "We won't need it!"

After the three of them separated, Sasuke couldn't quite help poking fun at the girl walking alongside him.

"Were you doing your best Naruto impression?" He teased with a mirth-filled grin.

Sakura seemed to question herself for a moment, before laughing quietly.

"Actually, I think I was emulating Anko Sensei a bit." She smiled embarrassedly, rubbing the back of her neck as a small blush came to her features. "She's a lot like Naruto, if he were like… a teensy bit more mature."

"Only a teensy bit? Isn't she twice his age?"

Sakura snorted.

"You wouldn't know it."

/-/

Naruto sneezed.

Rather loudly.

Several times.

"I hate everyone." He spoke simply. "Stupid Jiraiya… Stupid Sakura and her stupid teach- ACHOO!"

Naruto rubbed his nose with the back of his sleeve, realized he'd already done that several times now and was thus only spreading more snot across his face, gagged lightly, and then changed out of his outfit into another, identical orange jumpsuit.

"Why do I still live?" Naruto asked his reflection as he walked into the bathroom and began to brush his teeth, barely managing to avoid sneezing for the thousandth time. "Just to suffer?"

_It's all that crappy Jiraiya's fault! _Naruto cursed the man mentally, raising his left fist into the sky, even as his right continued to fish around for plaque on his gums. _If he hadn't said all that stuff about how I was built for using natural chakra…_

Naruto had taken Jiraiya's words to heart. The man had told him that he was well suited for the use of natural chakra, and then said his one and only downside was chakra control.

When Naruto had asked later that day about what he could do to improve on that aspect, Jiraiya had been rather blunt.

_"First, learn to walk up trees with your chakra. If you can do that, then transition to water-walking."_

And so that was what Naruto had done. He'd gone back to the spot where Jiraiya had been training him late last night, and he'd practiced water-walking up into the early morning. He had, at the time, seen no problems with that plan.

They were beginning to pop up now.

Naruto had, unfortunately, never been all that good at keeping himself balanced atop the water, and so he'd fallen in more times than he could realistically count. What had been the real problem was the temperature, because even in the relative heat of their current weather, the night's still managed to be rather chilly.

And so, it was with a pained groan that Naruto had awoken this morning, with a soar throat, a headache, and a stuffy nose. Not to mention that he hadn't exactly gotten the most sleep, so his eye's kept reflexively closing every thirty seconds or so, which was a bit of a problem seeing as how he was heading off to the first real competition he'd ever been in in about…

Naruto looked to the clock on his back wall.

_Oh, good. _Naruto thought, grabbing his sandals and practically shoving them on. _About 30 minutes._

_…And I'm up first._

_Awesome._

/-/

By the time Naruto managed to slip on the last of his wardrobe, eat a small piece of bread, and drink a glass of milk (which was likely spoiled, given his luck), he'd already managed to burn another 5 minutes from his short timeframe.

He ran through the streets with a panicked intensity, dodging out of the way of careless tourists, ducking underneath a tour-guide who seemed to be pointing in the direction of a nearby shop, and side-stepping two grown ninja, who shouted obscenities at him as he passed.

Another five minutes gone, but at least now he could see the arena.

_Why the hell is it so far away!? _Naruto couldn't help but curse inside his own head. _Why would you build it in such a crappy spot!?_

It was while he was stuck in his own head that he lost track of his own faculties, and as he turned around to shout back at another ninja who'd given him the finger, he accidentally ran into someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't – Naruto?"

He knew the demure voice without having to look up, but he was still a bit surprised as he turned his head to look up at the person he'd bowled over. Her hair had grown slightly longer over the month since he'd last seen her, but Hinata Hyuga was very much still herself, right down to apologizing to someone who'd been very much at fault.

"Oh, hey, Hinata!" He smiled, standing up and offering the girl a hand, which she took rather gingerly a second later, not quite able to meet his eyes for some reason. "Geez, and here I thought I'd be the only one who's late!"

The girl blushed, mumbling a quiet excuse under her breath that Naruto didn't catch a hint of, before looking up to him and bringing her hands together in front of her, twiddling her thumbs idly as she tried to work up the courage to speak.

"I… I was talking with my family last night." The girl admitted, her gaze meeting more often with the ground below them than with any part of Naruto. "They… Ah! Never mind." The girl suddenly deflected, turning around and pointing shyly to the coliseum. "W-we'll be late if we take too long."

"Oh! Yeah!" He'd nearly forgotten as he'd been sucked into his concern for the girl, but they did have a competition to catch. "You're right about that, Hinata!"

_"A competition between the two of us." _A rather unhelpful part of Naruto's psyche reminded him. _"Where you'll have to defeat her to advance."_

His mood plummeted almost instantly. He'd been trying to forget all about their upcoming fight, but it was proving rather difficult with the girl walking sedately in front of him, keeping as much to herself as she could.

_I wonder what's got her so upset…_ Naruto thought without really meaning to. _Maybe… I should ask._

Sasuke called him nosy, and perceptive at the worst of times, which still made Naruto chuckle to this day, but he would never deny the boy's statements.

Naruto knew enough about himself at this point in his life to know, without a shadow of a doubt, that he wouldn't feel very good if he didn't learn what it was that was bothering the girl in front of him.

And so, after taking a deep breath, Naruto spoke.

"So… Hinata?" His voice came across as wavering and unconfident, the exact opposite of how he'd meant to sound. "What did you guys talk about?"

The girl didn't quite stop in her tracks like he'd expected, but she did lurch slightly to the side, just barely managing to keep herself walking by propping herself up on the building beside her.

"N-nothing, really." The girl lied rather obviously, pointedly avoiding letting him seeing her face. "We're almost to the arena, and we only have a few minutes, s-so I think we should probably hurry!"

Once more, Hinata tried to shake him off, keep him from asking questions. And yet, he couldn't help but notice the way her hands shook as she walked forwards, of how she still didn't turn around and speak to him.

And so as they approached the coliseum, barely 100 feet to the entrance, Naruto reached out and grabbed the girl's hand in his own.

"Hinata." He called out to her quietly, doing his best to avoid pulling on her arm. Luckily for him, it seemed Hinata herself had stopped walking the moment he'd connected them together. "I'm sorry, but I can't just ignore you."

"W-we'll…" The girl in front of him took a breath, waited a second, and then continued. "We'll be late if we waste time."

"Helping my friends isn't wasting time." Naruto argued firmly, squeezing Hinata's hand ever so slightly. "You're more important than some dumb tournament."

The shaking in Hinata's hands stilled, and she let out an almost silent giggle. A moment later, it descended into a small sob, but she seemed to hold herself back, sniffling a second later to dispel her tears.

"That's…" The girl before him seemed caught in disbelief, once more giggling quietly to herself as she turned to face him for the first time, her eyes puffy and red, yet a small smile set upon her face. "So like you, Naruto."

His eyes widened as he got his first good look at the girl before him. She was clearly out of sorts, her eyes were bloodshot, her clothes were ruffled, and her hair was a bit of a mess. It honestly seemed like she'd only just woken herself up a few minutes ago.

"So… did something happen with your family, Hinata?"

The girl's smile died immediately, and she looked all around her, her head on a swivel like a lighthouse in a dark storm. He wondered what it was she was so afraid of, and yet he had an idea, as sick as it made him feel.

"I… Yes," Hinata finally admitted, tears once more coming to her eyes as she pointed off towards a small alleyway a few feet from them. "Could… could we go somewhere more private if we're going to talk about this?"

"Of course."

A few moments later and the two of them were sitting across from one another, leaning on opposite walls.

"Well… I… did you know about… what happened to me before?"

Normally, he felt like that opening would've been a little too vague to get anything out of. But he knew what she meant. Her teacher, Kurenai, had told him all about it. Her family, the Hyuga clan, had chosen to elect her sister as the heir to the clan, instead of her. No, that wasn't quite right.

She'd been replaced. She'd been the heiress to the Hyuga family, and then had the right denied from her. Funnily enough, Naruto didn't think the girl much cared for the duty, or the honor, but probably cared a lot more about the fact that her family had practically disowned her, throwing her into the life of a ninja and wanting nothing to do with her.

"Yeah, I heard from… Your Sensei."

"Ah…"

The girl let out a small squeak, trying to formulate words in the back of her throat, though seemingly failing, for she ended up taking another few moments to speak again.

"L-last night, my family called me back to the Hyuga manor… for the first time in a few months." The girl's teeth ground together, and for what may've been the first time since he'd met her, Naruto thought he saw the faintest bit of anger in her features. "I… I was so excited. I thought that maybe they'd recognized the effort I'd been putting in… maybe… maybe they'd-" Hinata cut herself off, already breathing heavily as she practically panted, tears beginning to form in her eyes as she slumped against the wall behind her.

"I thought maybe they'd want me."

The words nearly carved a hole in Naruto's heart, and he instinctively began to reach out his hand to the girl before him, but Hinata drew herself into a ball, preventing him from entering into her guard.

"A-anyways, I arrived to a full meeting of my immediate family. The clan elders weren't present… though I suppose that makes sense." The girl spoke darkly, her eyes once more staring into the ground below her. "They don't even recognize me as a Hyuga anymore."

This time, Naruto fought through his own doubt, reaching out fully and taking the girl's hand. Hinata looked up at him, mouth slightly agape as she gazed quietly into his eyes. He nodded over at her, trying to show solidarity without interrupting her story.

The girl let out a small squeak, shook her head, and gave him a watery smile.

"Thank you, Naruto… I'm sorry that I'm wasting your-"

"Don't say that." Naruto scolded her. "You're not a waste of my time. You're my friend."

A faint redness filled the girl's cheeks, though she didn't say anything about it, or him, instead continuing to speak about what had transpired the previous night.

"S-so, I asked my father why'd he called me, hoping it was that… I didn't even want to be the heiress anymore, I just-" The girl cut herself off again as her breathing grew erratic. "I just want to have my family back, and… and the only thing he could say… the only thing he told me…"

"All he said was "Make sure you don't embarrass the Hyuga tomorrow."" Hinata whispered, anger clear in her tone as she squeezed hard down on Naruto's hand. "And I… I just stood there, nodding my head along, like – like I'm some…"

The girl's voice cut off as she ground her teeth together, in an expression that seemed entirely unlike her. To Naruto, however, it was understandable. He'd dealt with those feelings in a transparent way, opening them up to the entire world by playing pranks and acting out. But Hinata hadn't been as open as he was. She had, outside of the field of view of other's, silently seethed, her feelings festering around without anyone, save perhaps her Jonin Sensei, to talk with them about.

"There's a little voice in my head," The girl continued, her brow furrowed with a quiet rage. "That says that I _should _embarrass the Hyuga. It's telling me to drag their honor, the honor that leads them to protect their main clan, that leads them to brand and curse their brothers and sisters, and that leads them to disown their sons and daughters, through the mud!"

Tears began to stream down Hinata's face a second later, and she fell into disarray, crying quietly as she felt ashamed of herself.

"But… but all I want is… is for my father to… to talk to me again." The girl sniffled, wiping away at her eyes and trying to choke back sobs. "Why? Why won't he ever look at me anymore… even last night, he never met my eyes, he just stared at the wall behind me… I can't… I don't know what to do!"

Naruto tried to say something, anything, really, but his voice simply wouldn't come, and as the girl continued talking, the hole near his heart seemed to only grow larger.

"And even Hanabi… I even get angry at her, when none of this is her fault at all… all she's done is do what they tell her." Hinata's knuckles were white as she pulled on her legs, curling even further into herself than before. "And yet in the middle of the night, when I'm alone with my thoughts, I can't help but want to blame her."

"I don't want to be heiress… that kind of role was never all that suited for me, I realize that, but… But it hurts to be called worthless by my entire family, and thrown out like garbage!"

Hinata was wracked with sobs as she tried to bring herself back together, letting her arms fall to her sides, and her legs slump down. She looked defeated, then, as if the weight of her family's rejection had finally broken her.

"I just…" Hinata murmured quietly, the tears on her face running silently as she sniffled. "I just want them to love me again…"

Naruto's heart practically shattered as the two sat silently, and even as he tried to break it by opening his mouth, trying to smile, trying to be the bubbly personality that could light up any room, he just couldn't manage to operate his voice.

A horn sounded somewhere off in the distance, and Naruto recognized it as coming from the coliseum they'd been heading towards a few minutes ago. If he was right, it was most likely a last call.

"S-sorry for taking your time up like this, Naruto…" Hinata spoke quietly, bracing against the wall behind her and pushing herself up into a standing position. "You're going to be late now… Uhm, if you want, you could go ahead."

Naruto's eyes widened, but Hinata refused to meet his gaze once more, turning away from him.

"I'm going to wait here…" The girl spoke softly.

_What…?_

"I'll be there in a few minutes,"

_No… _

"I just-"

_Stop!_

There was a moment where Naruto couldn't help but close the distance between them, reaching his arms out and wrapping them around the girl in front of him, bringing her into a tight embrace. The sound that came out of Hinata was indecipherable, though it sounded to Naruto like that of a wounded animal.

"Wha– Naruto?" Hinata's face was beat red, which seemed to clash oddly with the puffiness of her eyes, and the tracks that still remained upon her cheeks. "W-what're you doing?"

"I'm sorry." He whispered, feeling no resistance from the girl in his arms as he hugged her tighter still. "I didn't know what to say… No, I couldn't bring myself to say anything. I'm sorry that this is all I can do. I really am worthless when it counts."

Hinata didn't respond, not even as he pulled back, and she met his eyes for the first time. He couldn't help but see that the redness in her cheeks had seemingly multiplied, and she was trying to guard her face with her hands.

"I-I…" The girl stuttered, fumbling over her words as she broke eye-contact, staring a hole into the floor below them. A second later though, an unexpected smile came to her face, and she brought her head back up, eyes closed, but expression warm. "Thank you, Naruto."

He didn't quite know how to respond to that, but nodded his head silently, a confused look set upon his face. A moment later it grew into one of annoyance as the girl in front of him began to chuckle quietly, a hand over her mouth to block the sound.

"H-hey! What's so funny?"

"N-nothing, Naruto." The girl said through giggles. "I… I really do appreciate all you've done for me."

"Er… I really don't think I've done all that much, but… you're welcome, I guess."

"Uhm… Naruto?" The girl brought up once more, the redness in her cheeks returning as she spoke. "If you'd like… could we walk back to the arena together?"

It was his turn to smile, and he nodded as he did, turning back towards the alleyway's entrance and gesturing for her to follow.

"I'd like that, yeah!"

She followed behind him; lips drawn upwards as she beamed silently. But even after all they'd discussed, Naruto couldn't help but notice the darkness within her expression, darkness that even still hung about her.

Whatever it was he wanted to communicate to her, to help her solve the issues of her clan, or, at the very least, feel a bit better about herself, he knew he'd have to do during their fight. It was too late now, with the last-minute bell having already rung a few minutes prior.

_I'll do it. _Naruto thought to himself. _I won't let any of my friends suffer in silence._

_Not like I did._

/-/

Naruto and Hinata were immediately greeted by Sasuke and Sakura upon their entrance, although the exam proctor's proceeded to, with a whole lot of faked patience, tell them to 'Be a bit faster next time'.

He'd coughed immediately afterwards, though, so at least some things never changed.

Naruto and Hinata gave their stock apologies and slotted into their spots. Almost immediately, the proctors were given the go ahead to bring the students inside the arena.

"Honestly," Sasuke berated him, eyes narrowed as he rubbed his temples. "Do you know how close they were to sending Jonin to go and get you? Because I can guarantee they wouldn't have been very gentle."

Naruto laughed that particular comment off, instead turning his head to look at the other's he might have to face off against today.

First in their very poor excuse for a line were Sakura and Sasuke, who seemed to have arrived first to the exams for some reason. Naruto couldn't help but silently wonder what was up with that, but, to be fair, he'd been in middle of the forest for most of last night, so he couldn't really question it.

Tenten was up third, and the two of them had exchanged a brief greeting as he'd entered, making small talk to try and de-stress. There was something about the girl's expression that made him nervous for when her match came up, not to mention the fact that, as far as Sakura had told him, her new opponent in Shino was a hard opponent.

It seemed from Tenten's shaking hands that she'd figured that out as well.

The boy in question, Mr. Bug Guy himself, was up fourth. He had a small stitch on his face that still persisted from when he'd fought Zaku in the 2nd stage, and the glass from his own glasses had cut into his face, but other than that, he looked to be recovered.

Next were the two oddities from the sand village, Kankuro and Gaara. He'd spoken to neither of them yet, but both seemed to be tough in their own rights. Kiba had been dismantled by the former's standard Taijutsu, and Ino had surrendered almost immediately upon facing the latter, which left both as relative blank slates. They could pull practically anything out of their hats in these coming rounds.

Then last in line was, of course, he and Hinata. They'd been the final one's to arrive, despite being up first in the 3rd round.

_Still, _Naruto couldn't help but think to himself quietly as he gazed at the back of Gaara's head. _You've got a tailed beast too, huh?_

To be fair, they'd never actually confirmed it. Zabuza had made an educated guess based off of what Ino had seen in the boy's head, and said that her description had lined up rather well with what the One-Tailed Beast was supposed to look like.

Which was all well and good, but on it's own the information didn't exactly do anything. From Naruto's experience, there wasn't really any way to take advantage of a Tailed Beast being inside of someone.

_Well, I guess other than killing them, but at that point, you've kind of already solved the problem._

_"Why not talk to him?"_

Naruto's eyes widened minutely at the idea that popped into his head. It wasn't a terrible one, the two of them had both dealt with a monster living inside of them their entire lives, so they had a pretty unique connection. Plus, from what he'd seen, Gaara had yet to actually speak to anyone outside of his teammates, aside from Ino.

But that didn't really count, because he'd immediately tried to stab Ino a second later.

_Y'know, on second thought…_

_"Why not just try?" _His mind seemed to ridicule him once more. _"If he attacks you, he attacks you. The guards will stop him, and nothing comes of it. But who knows? Maybe you'll make a friend."_

Naruto hated when his conscience made sense.

And so it was with a very audible sigh that he walked over, reached his hand out to touch the boy's shoulder, and found it instantly encased in a floating glob of sand.

"W-wha-"

"The hell do you think you're doin'?"

Naruto turned slightly, seeing Kankuro, Gaara's teammate, walking over towards him. Or, he would've walked towards him, were it not for the stern glare the proctor. That particular attempt at intimidation would've probably worked a lot better had he not immediately coughed a few seconds later, but no one had the guts to call him on it.

"Stay in line." The man stated simply as he kept them moving.

There was a general murmur of agreement, but Naruto was determined to talk with Gaara. Unfortunately, he was less willing to do it with everyone around being able to hear him, and thusly, figure out about what he and Gaara housed within themselves.

So he decided to wait until their group made it outside, into the relative heat of the midday sun, and turned to look at the stadium surrounding them.

It was large! Far larger than it had looked from the outside, though Naruto supposed that was to be expected. There were three sections for seating, and each seemed to be filled to the brim with people.

The arena itself was simple. A well packed dirt floor, with clusters of trees taking up most sections of the outer wall.

They were brought to the center of the arena and told to stand still while those in the stands cheered them on. They obliged, though clearly none of them were feeling it too terribly much, aside from perhaps Hinata, who seemed to be hungry, desperately so, for the attention she was receiving, and yet, at the same time, terrified of it.

Still, he could focus on Hinata in a few minutes. Right now, his target needed to be Gaara. This could very well be the only time they got to speak for their entire lives, and Naruto was determined to make it count.

And so, without really putting much thought into his actions, he once more reached over and attempted to tap the boy's shoulder.

It was, once more, intercepted by sand, though this time, the boy must have seen him out of the corner of his eye, for he turned slightly and looked at him.

The first thing that struck him were Gaara's eyes. They were bloodshot, terribly so, to the point that the white's of his eyes were more a quiet pink more than anything. Dark ringlet's encircled them as well, and all in all he gave off a terribly exhausted look, as if he hadn't slept in his entire life.

"What?" The boy asked simply, his voice never wavering from it's mellow timbre.

"Er… Hi, I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

Gaara regarded him for perhaps half a second, before immediately turning back towards the arena, effectively dismissing him.

Naruto felt a small bit of indignation at that, but, honestly, he'd dealt with all of this in the early days of his and Sasuke's friendship, so it wasn't really a problem.

"Anyways, I actually wanted to talk to you." He spoke simply, turning towards the boy and smiling. "I heard that you're a Jinchuuriki."

That got a reaction from the boy beside him, though judging by the wide eyes and battle pose, he hadn't exactly made much of a good one.

"I have one too!" He blurted out before the boy could try and attack him. "A monster, I mean."

Gaara's eyed widened further, but his stance drooped, falling from where it had previously stood and becoming… not relaxed, but more inattentive, as if something had distracted him enough that he'd simply forgotten all about it.

"You… what?"

His voice gave away nothing, but it didn't need to. Naruto wasn't done talking yet.

"I've got the Nine-Tailed Fox inside of me. I heard that you've got the One-Tail, Shuku."

Gaara blinked, as if he were a machine trying to process his statement and encountering an error along the way.

"Shukaku." The boy said simply.

"Heh?"

"The creature's name is Shukaku." Gaara explained. "You said Shuku."

He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, feeling a bit embarrassed despite not really knowing the boy before him.

"Guess I did, my bad."

The boy beside him was silent for the longest time, as the Hokage began making a grand speech to the masses about the importance of the Chuunin Exams, the content of what they'd be seeing today, and, of course, the reason that the sound ninja wouldn't be participating, citing the reason as a doping incident that was caught early into the 3rd stage.

"As such, they have been replaced by the Genin who we considered to have performed most admirably in the exam's, Mr. Shino Aburame."

Shino didn't so much as move, though the crowd still awarded him with a smattering of applause, but otherwise ignored him, too focused on the juicy bit of gossip that one of the groups attending the Chuunin Exams had resorted to cheating.

After the Hokage had finished, the proctor turned towards them and began running down the rules for their battles.

Which meant, of course, that Naruto was running out of time to say his piece. Which, also, brought up an interesting question within the boy's head.

_What exactly is my piece?_

He knew he wanted to form a connection with the boy beside him, but for how to actually do it, and what to sctually say if he did, he wasn't really sure.

_Eh, _He thought to himself. _Might as well go for broke._

"Hey, Gaara?" He turned to the boy, offering his hand out and giving his trademarked smile. "Would you like to be friends?"

The boy's eyes widened once more, though he didn't seem to react any further than that. He was perfectly stationary for a good 10 seconds, before, finally, he uttered another word.

"Why?"

"Why what?" Was Naruto's rather simple response.

"Why would we be friends?" Gaara asked. "What reason is there? What would I gain?"

"Does there have to be a reason? Or something to gain?" Naruto questioned. "I mean, friends aren't really about that."

Gaara tilted his head to the side very slightly, as if not quite computing what it was Naruto was saying.

"Then… what are they about?"

_Well isn't that a real zinger of a question. _Naruto couldn't help but think.

"Friendship is… it's about covering for each other." He opened rather simply. "It's about taking on someone else's problems, about feeling pain when someone else feels pain."

At those words, Gaara's eyes widened more than he'd seen them thus far, and he reached out with his left hand to grab his head, as if it had suddenly begun to ache.

"But it's also about having fun, and enjoying yourself… And it can be about a ton of other stuff, too. There's no real rule that says friendship has to be one way or another. You make of it what you want to."

He looked into the boy's face to try and see if there was a readable expression he could pick up on, but whatever he was expecting to find, the look of raw, horrid rage upon Gaara's face wasn't it.

"You… You're just like him…" Gaara spoke in a low, hissing voice.

The top of the gourd he wore around his back turned to sand, and small grains began to pour out of it, covering the floor beneath him with a fine layer of the stuff.

"Uhm… Gaara?" He questioned worriedly. "You alright?"

"Get out… of my head…"

"Oi, Gaara," His teammate, Kankuro called out to him as he turned around. "What're you-"

"Yasha…"

Instantly, the sand around them coalesced into a single, razor sharp point, and it flew towards him in a burst of speed, gunning directly for Naruto's head.

"MARU!"

Naruto's eyes widened with fear, but before the creation could tear into his skull, it was intercepted by a gleaming blade, which seemed to cut the life right out of the stalagmite before it could end Naruto's own.

"I believe I've discussed this with the both of you before," The proctor, who still had his sword drawn, and was now staring down the two of them, spoke in a mirthless tone. "But there is to be no dueling outside of the sanctioned fights. Do I make myself clear?"

"Y-yeah." Naruto practically whispered as the shock of nearly dying coursed through him, and he looked up at Gaara to see the boy kneeling down, gripping his head with both hands and moaning quietly to himself, though for what reason, he couldn't discern.

_What the hell is this guy? _Naruto couldn't help but wonder. _Why would he attack me like that? He seemed so calm half a second ago!_

As questions continued to race through his mind, the proctor finished going through his quick safety speech, and announced the beginning of the Chuunin Exams.

"Would everyone except Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuga please clear the field." The man announced, quickly disguising a small cough into the sleeve of his jacket before walking to the center of the arena, and beckoning the two of them to follow.

But even still, with the looming threat of his match with Hinata, Naruto couldn't quite shake his own thoughts.

_What's wrong with that boy? Why is he so calm one moment, and murderous the next? _

Naruto's worries only increased when he thought of Sakura having to face the boy herself. Even with her own skills, would she stand a chance against Gaara?

_And…_

_Who… or what… is a Yashamaru?_

**End Chapter 27**

* * *

**Heyo.**

**Welp, The Third Round of the Chuunin Exams is finally upon us, and I'm excited, because I've been writing arcs to coalesce around this point for about 3 months now.**

**Finally, things get to come together.**

**Or maybe I'll ruin the entire story. Who knows I guess.**

**Next Week: Naruto vs. Hinata, and probably some other stuff too. I'll be honest I'm conflicted how much to put into the next chapter, fights are always so variable in terms of length.**

**Anyways, see you next week!**


	28. Chapter 28

**Yo!**

**More chapters. Yey.**

**This one was easily the hardest chapter I've had to write. Not because of content or anything, but because I've been trying to write while watching League of Legends' Worlds, which usually turns into me watching Worlds with a word document just kind of sitting there in the background.**

**It's slow going, but it's here, so...**

**Anyways, Without further ado, blah blah blah...**

* * *

**Chapter 28: Let the Games Begin**

* * *

Somewhere between he and Hinata arriving at the arena, and his encounter with Gaara, Naruto's cold had disappeared.

He wasn't exactly sure what the logistics of that were, but he chalked it up to a mixture of the adrenaline and shock of someone having just tried to kill him. Honestly, Naruto felt he should've been used to it at this point, given that someone was usually trying to kill him.

There was, however, another idea floating around in his head, that suggested that the Nine-Tails may've had a bit of say in that. After all, he'd heard tales of people having colds for days or weeks on end, whereas he'd never had one for any longer than a day, perhaps two at the worst.

_Well, I suppose there have to be __**some **__positives in this for me. _Naruto reasoned silently. _Does that mean I'm like… immune to poison's or something?_

_Well… Food for thought, I suppose._

Naruto put those thoughts out of his head for the moment, however, because right now, it was time for him to get to the bottom of Hinata's struggles.

Not that he'd have to think very hard; he was fairly sure he knew what the problem was.

The solution, however, was proving a bit more difficult to track down.

Hinata was dealing with an issue of self-worth, that much he could reasonably figure out. He'd dealt with it himself until he'd met Sasuke, but that didn't mean it would be quite as easy to fix for her as it had been for him.

His case had been largely due to receiving the attention he'd so desperately desired, even if the root of the problem, the ninja's who abused and belittled him, or the rest of his classmates ignoring him, didn't really disappear, he'd still been able to largely recover his self-esteem through Sasuke's presence.

But Hinata had been shunned by her whole family, the people she'd grown to trust her entire life. That had to have hurt her just as much as not having a family in the first place had hurt him.

The Proctor off to their left called something out, signaling that the two of them would begin their fight soon, and immediately Naruto felt a small sense of helplessness overtake him.

_Can I do this?_ He felt like asking aloud. _The problem's she's facing… can I help solve them?_

_"Does it matter if you can?" _Another part of him seemed to call back. _"You still have to try."_

Naruto nodded, content, at least, that he'd give his best effort.

"…And I'll interrupt the fight if I think it's been decided." The proctor finished, raising his hand in the air above him and giving the crowd a moment to notice and react, quieting them as the match was set to begin. "Let the first fight of the Chuunin Exams Third Round… BEGIN!"

Neither he nor Hinata moved, though they were both setting things up, so that made sense.

"Byakugan!" The girl shouted as she brought her hand in front of her face, causing the veins around her eyes to show through her skin, and her irises to change in a subtle, yet still identifiable way.

He'd seen the Byakugan before, when Neji had fought Lee, the boy had brought it out and used it to counter his opponents fierce blows, but even then, The bowl-cutted ninja had proven that the eye was not, in and of itself, something that could claim victory.

Adding to that, Naruto had a feeling that Hinata wouldn't be quite as proficient with it as Neji had been.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto shouted as he brought his fingers together in front of him, forming a makeshift cross as 5 bursts of white smoke exploded into existence beside him.

_So… What's my game plan?_

Naruto wasn't stupid; Or, at least, he wasn't stupid when it came to battles. He'd been told by Sasuke, and more recently, Kakashi and Jiraiya, that he was quick witted, and adept at thinking on his feet.

So he knew for a fact he could beat Hinata. He also knew it probably wouldn't even be that hard.

Hinata could seal his chakra points, sure, but that didn't mean she could connect her strikes in a close-range exchange. If they fought it out in the center of the ring, even with her gentle fist style, he'd be able to close the fight out rather quickly.

That didn't mean he wanted to.

At the same time, he wasn't going to throw Hinata's pride in the mud any further than it already had been by throwing the match. Neither of them would gain anything from that, and if she noticed, which she probably would with her Byakugan, she'd lose any respect for him that she had.

He was going to do his best to win, but that didn't mean he couldn't help Hinata out first.

He sent two shadow clones at Hinata, content to test the girl's strength with those alone. They rocketed forwards, brought themselves into combat stances, and, flanking the girl from both sides as her eyes widened in panic, struck quickly and concisely.

Hinata was able to block both attacks, but not easily. She struggled against the clones follow ups, and by the third attack she was actively retreating, forced backwards as the two attacking her relentlessly pushed inside her guard, landing a few blows into the girl's chest that seemed serious enough to leave an impact.

_C-Crap, _Naruto found himself commenting on the girl's actions inside his head. _C'mon, Hinata, You can do it._

Hinata staggered, nearly falling backwards as she finally landed a strike to the midriff of one of Naruto's clones, dispelling it, and leaving her with only a single other to deal with at the moment. A few seconds later, she'd dealt with that one, too, popping it into smoke and looking back over towards him.

Already, Hinata looked worse for wear. The battle hadn't technically been decided, but with how their skill-sets matched up, it might as well have been. Hinata had no way of dealing with a large group of his shadow clones. If he wanted to, he could summon ten or twenty right now and end the fight without even having touched the girl himself.

He didn't want to, though, and so he held off, instead charging forwards with the three remaining clones at his back. He ducked inside the girl's guard, sliding on the earth below him and kicking up at her backside as she tried to deal with the clones coming from the front.

_C'mon, Hinata, you can manage this, right?_

She couldn't hold him, that was clear immediately. He landed two solid blows to the girl's body, knocking her backwards slightly as a clone charged in from behind. The other him dove deeply, kicking the girl's legs out from under her and forcing her to the ground.

Hinata landed hard on her right arm, and Naruto winced as the girl let out a small cry, holding the limb and curling into a ball on the floor.

"H-Hinata?" Naruto spoke without meaning to, his concern for the girl somehow outweighing the resolve he'd held within himself to not go easy on her.

"Step back, kid."

Naruto turned, looking over at the proctor before him and nodding. The man kneeled down, and briefly inspected his opponent.

She didn't move.

After a second or two, the proctor sighed, stood up, and, in a soft, yet somehow still commanding voice, spoke.

"Hinata Hyuga is unable to continue,"

_…Really?_

"Thusly, the winner…"

_It can't be…_

"Of this first battle…"

_Hinata…!_

"Is-"

"HINATA!?"

/-/

_I lost._

Hinata was sprawled out across the ground, trying to bite back a scream as a shocking pain coursed through her entire right arm. She'd never felt pain quite that intense, so she suspected she must've at least fractured a bone.

_I could barely fight against two clones…_

She briefly inspected her surroundings. The Byakugan let her see in nearly 360 degrees around her, and so she observed everything she could in those moments on the ground.

She saw the proctor's disbelief, as if he couldn't quite see how someone could lose so quickly to so weak an assault. He gave a small sigh before beginning to walk towards her, presumably to call the match.

She gazed towards the stands, using her enhanced sight to see her father and sister, both of whom had now stood up from their seats and were walking away. Her father had likely been so disgusted with her that she would not even see him in the coming months.

Idly, Hinata wondered if he would ever forgive her for this.

What hurt her most of all, however, was Naruto's face. He, too, looked disbelieving. Even with his earlier attack, as brief and easy as his victory must've seemed to those in the arena behind them, Hinata was perhaps the only one who could tell he'd still held back. She'd watched the boy train for many years, had watched him practice with the Shadow Clones on multiple occasions.

She'd seen him bring out 30 and barely break a sweat.

Against her, he'd only summoned 5.

_And I couldn't even repel that. _She pondered solemnly. _I really am so pathetic…_

To Naruto, the fact that he'd barely had to try to defeat her seemed like such a shock. His eyes were wide, his mouth hung open slightly, and he seemed to be trying to find something to do with his hands, shifting them around, opening them and closing them, desperately seeking something more.

Something more from her, if she had to guess.

_I'm sorry, Naruto…_

"H-Hinata?" Naruto spoke quietly, concern for her evident in his voice, even though he was supposed to be her enemy.

She smiled to herself, content that she'd at least tried to face him.

_I look forward to seeing the rest of your matches, Naruto. _She thought to herself, smiling as the proctor finally reached the two of them, telling Naruto to step back, and inspecting her.

"Hinata Hyuga is unable to continue,"

_Heh…_ Hinata mused. _Naruto, I'm just…_

"Thusly, the winner of this first battle is-"

_I'm just not that strong. I'm so-_

"HINATA!?"

There was something about the boy's voice, some tiny, minuscule part of it, that broke a part of her she'd never known existed. It wasn't that he was concerned for her, or that he was disappointed. It also wasn't anger, or joy for his victory.

His scream was a question.

_"Is this all that your feelings amount to?" _The boy's voice seemed to say.

It was an instantaneous action. One moment, she'd lost, accepted her fate, and decided to lie down and accept that declaration, and the next, she had reached her left hand out, grabbed the proctor's leg, and was trying, desperately, to stand.

It wasn't easy. Her right arm still ached horribly, as did her stomach and chest from where Naruto's clones had hit her. Her entire body was sore enough that the effort of making it to her feet had sweat running down her face. Even still, she was determined not to accept defeat. Not now, when she had so much to prove.

She faced Naruto, gave the boy as fierce a glare as she could muster, and raised her left hand into a battle position.

She tried to ignore the way his face lit up, a wide grin pulling at the corners of his mouth and his eyes closing, in what she could only assume was a reflexive show of trust towards her.

She refused to blush.

…

_Well I never said it would work for sure!_

"Well then…" The proctor, eyes sunken in and looking entirely too old to be dealing with this, spoke quietly, before sighing, waving his hands towards the both of them. "I suppose you may continue."

Hinata breathed a sigh of relief knowing that she'd be allowed to keep fighting, despite having technically been eliminated. She noticed idly with her Byakugan that her father and sister had stopped moving and were instead standing stationary near the back of the arena.

Perhaps her father could tell she was watching, for his eyes narrowed, but otherwise, he remained expressionless.

As if he was saying "I'm not impressed."

_…I'll show you. _Hinata promised him mentally. _I… I will win!_

_…And just how am I going to do that?_

That was a fair question, given that she didn't actually have any outs against what Naruto could bring to the table. If she was seriously going to try and win, she had to defeat him before his clones could overwhelm her with numbers like they had only a minute or two ago.

_And that was with far less than he __**can **__summon, _Hinata pondered as she circled around the arena, never dropping her stance as she just managed to get her right hand into a parrying position, even if it still ached whenever she moved it. _He was going easy on me, and it was still enough to send me packing._

_So how can I actually win?_

Her idea was, to be perfectly honest, rather simple. She just had to rush at Naruto so fast that the boy wouldn't be able to counterattack. Luckily, the Hyuga clan's gentle fist was well suited to shutting strong opponents out of their Jutsu.

The problem, of course, was that she was not Neji. Nor was she her father, or even her sister. She was practically a novice in the gentle fist, even if she'd been using it for half her life. Naruto, however, was a fairly powerful close-ranged fighter. Against him, she'd be at a disadvantage from the start.

But she still had to try. It was, after all, her only potential way out of this.

If she could move fast enough, catch her opponent off guard, and overwhelm him all in short order, she might just have a chance.

She dashed inwards, anticipating that Naruto wouldn't expect her to move aggressively. As his eyes widened minutely, and he began to make the seal for the Shadow Clone Jutsu once more, Hinata knew she couldn't allow it.

She stabbed forwards with her fingers, catching them between the cross Naruto's hands had been trying to make, and cutting off his ability to form clones. In the boy's confusion, she barely managed to land a blow to his stomach, knocking him backwards as he recoiled.

She couldn't let up, though. She charged forwards once more, aiming this time to take out Naruto's legs the same way she'd been done in earlier. She swept with her legs, trying to kick them out, but Naruto was slightly faster, jumping over her attack and landing a foot or so away, bringing his hands together once more to form the Shadow Clone.

_Can't let him!_

She kicked off the earth, using the momentum to propel herself forward, and just barely managed to get in range of Naruto's hands before the boy could connect them. She readied herself for the strongest attack in her arsenal, preparing to use it to finish her opponent, even if it was incomplete in her hands.

"Eight Trigrams!" She shouted, fighting through the pain shooting up her right arm and bringing it up into the required stance. "Sixty-Four Palms!"

A second later, she fired her first two shots, which landed on Naruto's arms as he was blocked the both of them, bringing his hands together and, in the split second between her first and second rounds of strikes, managed to bring forth two clones.

_That's not good._

Even still, she charged in, knowing that if she could take Naruto out of the fight, she might still be able to deal with the clones on their own.

"Two Palms!"

She sent both towards Naruto's main body, knowing that if she wasted any on his clones, he would simply use that time she gave him to summon more.

"Four Palms!"

She could physically feel the chakra being drained from her body as she fired those eight shots in quick succession. She'd never had a terribly large reserve, and it was more apparent than ever whenever she tried to use this Jutsu to its fullest.

Still, it was able to punch through Naruto's defenses, penetrating his guard for the first time that fight and landing a meaningful blow to the boy's chest, just above his heart. Hinata would've normally worried about such a hit, but she knew she couldn't hold back in any way.

Not now.

_I'll apologize later, Naruto!_

"Eight P-"

She felt an impact on the back of her neck and was instantly face down in the dirt below her. She pushed herself up as fast as she could, but a pain like lightning shot up her right arm as she did, nearly causing her to fall flat on her face once more.

Even so, she was able to stand. She turned around and parried a single blow from the Shadow Clone that had attacked her. Even if it went against her normal plan, she couldn't afford to leave her back totally exposed, even if her plan was a veritable suicide attack.

When she turned back towards Naruto, it was to find three more clones had joined him.

_I was able to cut off some of his chakra points with my last attack. _Hinata realized as she saw the strain on the boy's face. _I'd be willing to bet that those three are his limit for the time being._

That didn't mean she could get complacent, of course. The gentle fist may have sealed chakra points, but that was more of an immediate effect. It wore off after a few hours from an experienced user, but from her, it may only last the next few minutes.

If she was going to win with her own power, it would have to be soon. She had, at best, the next minute or two. If Naruto could stall her out…

No. He didn't even need to do that. If he could successfully repel her next attack, then it was likely she would be completely overwhelmed, without even being able to respond.

_I don't have a lot of options. _Hinata knew._ I just have to do all I can!_

Once more, and for perhaps the final time, Hinata rushed to meet her opponent. This time, her Jutsu went uninterrupted.

"Eight Palms!"

She felt pain in both her arms as they shot forward at blinding speeds, each landing a handful of blows on Naruto's torso, and a few in each of his arms. They would be good for cutting down on his ability to make Shadow Clones, but they wouldn't do much against the boy's overall ability to fight.

Not unless she could keep the hits coming. She sucked in another breath of air, focused her chakra, and practically shouted as she unleashed the next set.

"Sixteen Palms!"

This was her limit. It had been for as long as she could remember. She'd practiced with the Jutsu for days on end, almost two whole months of training nonstop to master the ability, and even after all of that, she still found herself lacking when it came to being able to push it to its limit.

She'd been unable to handle the full might of the Sixty-Four Palms.

And as her Sixteen palms connected, yet failed to knock her opponent over, she realized she didn't have enough power to defeat him.

Not without using that next level.

_I can't. _Her mind argued. _I've tried my whole life, and I've never been able to! Sixteen palms is my limit._

_Incomplete. Flawed._

_Worthless…_

And then, suddenly, a voice of iron rang out in her head, one that sounded a suspicious amount like a blonde ball of sunshine that she knew.

_"Who cares if you couldn't do it before!?" _It seemed to scream. _"Just do it now, and then you can forget all about that!"_

_I can't. _She fought back. _I can't! I'm not strong enough!_

_"Why not?"_

_What?_

_"Why aren't you strong enough? What makes you not strong?"_

_I…_

_"You think that because no one believes in you, that you can't be strong."_

_…_

_"Well, I believe in you!"_

Hinata gave a small smile, and she couldn't help but keep the boy in her thoughts as she gritted her teeth together, focused her chakra to the highest degree, and prepared to try and surpass her limits.

_Naruto could keep going, keep training, even when no one believed in him! _Hinata mused. _This is the least I should be able to do!_

She used her Byakugan to observe her father and sister once more. Hanabi was pulling on Hiashi's sleeve, evidently asking him something. Unfortunately, the Byakugan didn't grant the ability to hear from long distances, and so she was stuck with nothing but conjecture.

That didn't change the way that her father gripped his arm so hard that his knuckles were white, or how he was, perhaps unconsciously, pressing his lips together.

_They both look… concerned._

Maybe she was making it all up in her head. Maybe her father was only worried about how much she was tarnishing the clan's name, and maybe her sister's only concern was that she wanted to go home, that her sister's match was boring. But Hinata couldn't help thinking that maybe, just maybe, they really hoped she'd pull through.

_I…_

Chakra flooded into her hands, fueling her as she prepared to go for one final strike.

_I can't…_

She breathed deeply, stepping under the attack of one clone, and dodging out of the way of another, right into the guard of the real Naruto.

_I won't disappoint them!_

"Eight Trigrams…!"

"Thirty-Two Palms!"

And maybe she was mistaken, but she couldn't help seeing a tiny grin on Naruto's face.

The blows came hard and fast, more than she was really prepared for. It was like she was striking on instinct, rather than on any practice. She could feel her arms aching, no, blazing with pain. Finally, she could tell without doubt that her right arm must certainly have fractured somewhere.

But that couldn't stop her. Not now.

Even if she merely conceded the moment she reached the next round, she was determined to see it.

She noticed out of the corner of her vision that Naruto's clones had dissipated. Whether or not that was from the effects of having his chakra blocked, or if it was that he could not focus to keep them working any longer, she didn't know.

_I can do this!_

She was half-way through her barrage when she began to feel the aftereffects.

Her arms were sluggish, her fingers felt like jelly as they connected with Naruto's chakra points. The chakra flowing out of her seemed to dampen in effective strength, and even then, after all of that, her opponent was still standing.

_I… I can't stop._

She could barely force Chakra into her hands anymore. Hell, she could barely feel her effective pool of chakra at all.

_I won't lose…_

_I refuse to lose!_

_Think! What am I using Chakra for other than my attacks?_

The only answer that came was her eyes.

Her father had told her, so very long ago, that it was technically possible to use the gentle fist without the Hyuga's eye.

She was going to bank on the man's words.

She took a tiny, almost nonexistent breath as she deactivated the Byakugan, the biggest draw of chakra she'd been working around, and focused, terribly hard, on remembering exactly where Naruto's chakra points had been.

She focused all of her remaining chakra that had, previously, been reserved for keeping the Byakugan running, into her hands, and let loose upon Naruto's presumed chakra points.

Twelve hits later and she had finished. Hinata staggered backwards, barely able to stand, and watched, silently, as Naruto fell backwards, landing on his behind and panting hard as he gasped for air.

There was a small subsection of the stands that erupted into cheering, and Hinata couldn't help but relish the feeling. They were cheering for her! Not for Naruto, not for Sasuke Uchiha or any other ninja here. Her, Hinata Hyuga.

They were cheering on a failure, and for once, they might have actually meant it.

_There… __See, everyone?_ Hinata smiled as she stood silently, feeling a bit of dizziness begin to overtake her as she swayed from side to side. _I… I did it…_

The cheering gradually died down as Naruto stood up in front of her. He wore on his face only a sad smile, like a sunny day hidden behind storm clouds. He seemed hurt, but not unable to continue fighting.

_Do you all…_

A second later, Hinata closed her eyes, a content smile upon her face as her legs gave out beneath her. She felt pain, but it was dulled behind the adrenaline still coursing through her.

_Love me…_

Distantly, she thought she could hear footsteps. She tried to activate her Byakugan to see who's they were, but she didn't have the energy to do anything other than lie there.

Faintly, she heard the proctor begin to speak, and again a faint cheering begin to echo around them.

It was strangely muted.

_Now…?_

And then she knew only darkness.

/-/

Naruto remained quiet as the proctor walked over to Hinata's still form. He watched the tired man inspect the girl below him, seeing if she would once more rise as she had before. After seemingly finding that she would not, Naruto watched him nod his head slightly, and then stand back up.

"Hinata Hyuga is unable to continue." The man shouted as he gestured towards him. "The winner is Naruto Uzumaki!"

A light smattering of cheers rained down from the Arena, though Naruto couldn't help but notice that they all mostly came from the foreigner's box. Those from the leaf seemed to be holding their applause.

Naruto tried to not let that get to him, but he found it rather difficult with his already somber mood.

Despite his victory, there was no cheer in his step as he made his way back up to the competitor's seating area. There was no wide smile as the others in the box congratulated him on his victory, or as Sasuke and Sakura gave him a pat on the back, along with their own sad smiles.

He was happy they understood.

"You did well out there, Naruto." Sasuke voiced simply. "I know that must've sucked, but you handled your opponent with care, never taking any risks you didn't need to."

"Didn't make it feel very good…" Naruto responded glumly, giving Sakura a small smile as the girl put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, I'm fine, I just…"

"We get it." A voice called out from beyond his field of view, and when Naruto turned, it was to see Tenten walking over to the three of them. "Hinata's always really looked up to you, I wouldn't envy your position very much at all, trust me."

"…Thanks, you all." Naruto smiled, feeling just a bit better as they watched Hinata be carried off on a stretcher.

She'd suffered no serious injuries, besides a fracture to her right arm that could be healed with a few days of Jutsu, but her low chakra reserves were a more immediate problem that needed resolving. The girl had gone and burned through nearly her entire pool of chakra in order to hit him with the final stage of her attack.

Just thinking about it had Naruto feeling down once more, but another voice brought him out of it.

"Why did you shout her name?"

Naruto turned towards the boy who'd spoken. His eyes were wide with innocence, and yet he couldn't help but feel like that was the wrong way to describe them. A social innocence, perhaps, like this boy had never had the chance to develop as a normal child would. But in terms of what those eyes had seen, Gaara was perhaps the least innocent of all those standing in the competitor's box.

"I…" Naruto struggled to answer the red-headed boy's question. It was not a simple thing to explain to someone who didn't even understand what friendship was. "I guess I was worried about her." Was the answer he ended up settling upon.

Gaara tilted his head, and his eyebrows drew down. He seemed utterly unsatisfied with Naruto's answer.

"Hinata's my friend, so I didn't really like hurting her in the first place." Naruto tried to explain. "But when she fell the first time, when she'd given up without even really putting up a fight… I felt like she was betraying herself."

"So you were… angry at her?"

Gaara seemed to be trying to relate Naruto's own emotions to his, to try and understand what it was Naruto could feel, and why he would feel the way's he did. He would let the boy continue, if it led to him understanding his own feelings.

"I guess I was a little angry." Naruto admitted while he scratched the back of his neck. "I talked to her earlier today… that's why the two of us were late for the exam, and she told me that she was having… problems with her father."

At that, Naruto couldn't help noticing Gaara's eyes widen, as if he could relate to such a predicament.

"Was her father trying to kill her?" Gaara asked, leaning forward slightly, hoping so terribly for an answer that followed his experiences.

Naruto felt his own spirits drop as he guessed just what it was had effected Gaara so terribly in his life, but he couldn't focus on that now. He had a feeling asking the boy directly about his experiences would lead to another attempt on his life, and he'd already had a hell of a time explaining the last one to Sasuke and Sakura before they tried to tear the red-headed boy asunder right in front of a few hundred people.

"No, her father's just being an assho– Er, he's being very mean." Naruto corrected, trying to speak to Gaara like he'd speak to a child. "Hinata's just not as talented as he wants her to be, so he's kicked her out of their family."

Gaara paused for quite a while, waiting until the proctor called for the next two contestants, Sasuke and Kankuro, to head down into the arena.

"Man," Gaara's teammate, Kankuro, spoke under his breath. "They said I wouldn't have to fight last week…"

His words were a bit odd, but Naruto wasn't really focused on that. He was, instead, looking at Gaara, who seemed terribly torn about what it was he was going to say.

"Talent… seems arbitrary." The boy spoke after a little while longer. "But what does… 'kicked out of the family' mean?"

"It means they don't recognize her as a member of the Hyuga clan anymore." Naruto responded with the default answer, deciding not to complicate it anymore with talks of heirs and heiresses.

"I see…" Gaara's voice trailed off as he turned towards the arena, watching as his teammate Kankuro stood apart from Sasuke and took a battle stance. "I wonder… if I wouldn't have simply preferred my father kicking me out of my family."

The words wounded Naruto, but he didn't let that show on his face. As someone who'd grown up without anyone at all to call family, he couldn't quite understand just how terrible a parent would have to be for a child to not even want to see them again.

Then again, if he was going off of the hints Gaara had given him, then he could safely assume that Gaara's father had tried to kill the boy before him. That, at least, led to the boy's words making a sad amount of sense.

Neither of them said anything as the battle below them began, and Sasuke came to an immediate, commanding lead.

The match wasn't close. Sasuke's opponent didn't exactly seem to be trying his hardest to begin with, but Naruto's best friend looked to be at the top of his game, hitting almost every attack he went for, and managing to duck around and avoid every single strike Kankuro went for.

Even when the boy brought out a small trap, a poisoned kunai that fired out of his sleeve, Sasuke's Sharingan let him move his body in such a way as to let it pass right by him, and Sasuke ended the fight a moment later, straddling the boy and holding him by his collar, calling for his opponents surrender.

"I yield, sheesh." Kankuro called, rolling his eyes with a lackadaisical expression present upon his features. "Ever think you're trying too hard?"

Sasuke didn't say anything, but he did bow towards the audience as raucous cheers ushered forth. As he ascended the stairs towards their arena, Naruto ran down and gave him a fist bump, discussing the match with his friend as Sakura joined in on their festivities.

Even so, the girl seemed more nervous than she usually would've.

"I guess I'm up next, aren't I?" Sakura muttered quietly, breathing deeply to try and quell the nervous energy that seemed to be coursing through her.

"C'mon, you've been training for a whole month." Naruto patted the girl on her back, smiling over at her. "You'll be able to win, I know it!"

Sakura gave a small smile at that, closing her eyes and taking concentrated breaths as she did. Naruto decided not to disturb her, instead walking back towards Gaara, and trying to pick their conversation back up where they'd left off.

"Sorry, I was talking to my friends!" Naruto smiled, before remembering that Sasuke had just beaten the boy's teammate. "Ah, sorry, I forgot Kankuro lost… Uhm… Good fight!"

Gaara tilted his head to the side, the computations in his brain not quite working.

"You've no need to apologize. My brother was the loser of the fight. Nothing more needs to be said."

_Brother?_

"He's your brother?" Naruto asked, mildly confused.

"Yes. Kankuro and Temari are my older siblings." Gaara looked over towards him, the blank expression on his face never once changing. "You knocked my sister out in the second round."

At that, Naruto had to suppress a wince. He imagined that hadn't earned him any favor with the boy in front of him.

"Sorry about that."

"Why do you continue to apologize?"

Naruto looked the red-head in the eye, truly realizing for the first time that Gaara didn't understand at all what he was trying to do.

"Because I thought you would be angry about me defeating your siblings." Naruto tried to explain. "I think I'll be a bit upset if you beat Sakura, for example."

"But why?" The boy asked naively. "If I won, then I was stronger. This is a tournament to determine strength, is it not?"

Naruto scratched his head as he tried to unpack _that _particular statement and was left mostly coming up blank as he spoke again.

"Because she's my friend, and I care about her and how she feels." He outlined. "Basically, I know she wouldn't be happy if she lost, and so I'm not happy when she loses… Does that make sense?"

Gaara didn't seem to think so, judging by the way he looked down at his hands. A second later the proctor shouted out that the third match would be beginning shortly, and the red-head made for the railing, sand starting to billow around him.

Just as it coalesced around him, and he looked as if he would disappear, Gaara turned back around, gave Naruto an odd look, and spoke rather simply.

"I will not lose."

Naruto tilted his head slightly, but nodded.

"We won't either."

Gaara opened his mouth, as if to say something else, but kept quiet as her turned to sand, and arrived in the arena below. Naruto turned around towards Sakura, gave the girl a thumbs up, and watched as she stepped out of the room and down the stairs, choosing the normal route instead of any crazy Jutsu.

He couldn't quite hide his nerves as Sakura stood across from Gaara in the arena, and as the two took their battle stances, and the proctor looked ready to call the start of the match, a bead of sweat rolled down his face, and he swallowed air.

_Gaara tried to kill me, tried to kill Ino… _

_If he tried to kill Sakura too, would anyone be able to stop him?_

_Can Sakura even win?_

And as he sat paralyzed by his doubts for the upcoming match, the proctor's voice ushered forth.

"Let the 3rd match of the Chuunin Exams Third Stage…"

"BEGIN!"

**End Chapter 28**

* * *

**Alright.**

**So there we go. Naruto defeats Hinata, but the girl gets to be proud of herself for, likely, one of the first times in her life.**

**Sasuke's match gets off-screened, mostly because it didn't matter at all to the plot, and likely would've only ate up 2000 or so words in this chapter or the next for me to have to write it all out.**

**Which I guess tells you something about Sakura's fight, doesn't it?**

**Anyways, tune in next week for more of Trip Down a Hill. **

**See you then!**


	29. Chapter 29

**Heyo.**

**We're into Konoha Crush, and that spells neat things.**

**It also spells a lot of fighting, which is, I suppose, a thing I'm going to have to write.**

**Without further ado, you get the picture.**

* * *

**Chapter 29: Different Types of Crushes  
**

* * *

In Sakura's opinion, Gaara's magical sand powers could go die in a hole someplace, because they were really starting to grate on her nerves.

The crowd behind her shouted out their disapproval, calling out for anyone to do anything that would disrupt the admittedly bland status quo. They, too, could all go die in a hole, because she had no clue what she was supposed to do, and their jeers certainly weren't helping her think.

"Get on with it!"

"Quit starin' at each other, what are you, in love!?"

Sakura took a deep, calming breath, trying to zone their voices out and come up with a strategy.

"Move! Fight! Get hit, just do something!"

"Someone tell me when this one's over!"

"Even that damned Hyuga gave us a better fight than this!"

Sakura's eye twitched ever so slightly, though she did just barely manage to hold herself back from yelling into the stands. She was fairly sure that wouldn't have helped the shouting in any way whatsoever.

Even still, there was some truth in their words. She did need to do _something_ soon. She just… wasn't exactly sure what that something was.

From what she'd seen, Gaara's defense didn't leave very many holes.

The sand, from what she'd seen, followed a very simple rule. It blocked her attacks that aimed for Gaara's body. It didn't matter what she attacked with, either. A punch had been blocked, a kick had been repelled, and a Kunai had been absorbed into the sand itself and spat back out at her a few seconds later.

She'd been about ready to give up when she came up with something potentially interesting.

_Welp, hopefully this works._

"Water Style: Water Bullet!"

A stream of water shot out from her mouth, and she directed it straight for the body of her opponent. She knew without doubt that the sand would come to block the attack, but that was what she was after.

As water and sand collided in the center of the arena, and her Jutsu's effect ended, Sakura charged forward, bringing a kunai into her left hand as she did. She saw as her opponents eyes widened minutely, trying, and failing to bring his sand up in time to block the strike to his shoulder, which, for the first time, seemed to actually wound the boy before her.

Or at least, she'd thought it had. A second later as Sakura bounced back out of the sand's threat range, she watched as a tiny piece of hardened sand fell off of Gaara's body, almost like a porcelain pot breaking apart.

_I hate you. _She silently cursed as she brought her blade back up, knowing now that she'd have to land more than a few good hits before this fight would come close to ending.

Just as she was planning to charge in once more, utilizing the weighed-down-sand's slower reaction speed, Gaara reached out with his hand and, seemingly on instinct, discarded half of the sand flying around him.

He then proceeded to focus a little more, and new sand joined his ranks, flowing up from the earth below them.

Somehow, all that was left was dry, agile sand, like the kind he'd been using before.

_I really, really hate you._

A blade of sand cut through the air where she'd been a second before, and nearly managed to catch her as she dodged backwards as well. She practically hissed as it scraped by her arm, leaving a small wound, though nothing that needed attending.

Still, the fact that he could discard wet sand, and gain new, dry sand from the dirt below him, was a bit of a problem. At the very least, it meant her method of pouring water onto his sand in the hopes that it could be slowed down to a crawl, or even negated fully, was null and void.

Added to that, even if she could slow it down for a moment to make it inside his guard, that would, at best, work only once or twice more, before her opponent figured out her strategy and countered her.

_Alright, back to the drawing board. _Sakura admitted, trying to think, sometimes quite literally, on the fly. _What could I hit him with that could cut through the sand, and damage the body behind him?_

_…I've got nothing powerful enough to pierce through his guard._

_"You have the curse mark." _A ghastly, almost insidious voice echoed out inside of her mind. _"Why not rely on its power?"_

She knew that whatever it was calling out to her was not to be trusted, and yet, somehow, she couldn't argue against those words either. Why not try the curse mark out? She'd used it without meaning to in the forest of death, and sure, it had certainly helped her go a bit out of control, but now that she knew what it could do, it couldn't do so again.

_…Right?_

She found herself hesitating as she broke past Gaara's sand, barely managing to land a punch inside of the boy's guard, only to find that it too had been intercepted by the barrier of particulates, and she was blown backwards by a mix of sand and gravel.

_Am I willing to take that chance…?_

Sakura's thoughts were interrupted as Gaara's sand threatened to slice her into bits and pieces. Another few slashes landed on her arms, and she just barely managed to avoid taking a fairly serious strike to her abdomen as she dodged out of the way.

_I… I don't want to rely on the curse mark. _She decided, bracing herself for the brunt of Gaara's entire pile of sand as it buffeted against her weakened guard. _I want to do this with my own strength, to prove __**I'm **__the one who's strong, not Orochimaru._

_I want to show those two that I can fight on the same level as them!_

This time as she broke free of the stream of sand that was hunting her, she once again doused Gaara's defensive sand with her water bullet. She charged inwards, relying on the speed decrease to get a reliable hit in.

And then a second later her world went red.

For a short time, all Sakura could feel was the pain in her chest. It wasn't like anything she'd ever felt before, and briefly she wondered if this was what dying was like.

She shook that off a second later when she fell backwards onto the lukewarm, unforgiving dirt beneath her, and realized she was still very much alive.

Alive, with a gaping wound in her stomach.

She coughed a few times, trying to gain some control over her faculties, but found that she was having a hard time breathing from the shock running through her body. A moment later she was given no choice but to move her body, because Gaara's sand was once more closing in upon her.

She was able to avoid the blow by the skin of her teeth, but a pain like lightning shot across her abdomen as she twisted and jumped to dodge the boy's strike. She narrowly managed to stay on her feet as she backpedaled, dodging another two blows from Gaara as he struck out against her continuously.

_What… What happened!?_

_I was charging towards him one second… and then…_

After what seemed like an eternity, but what was probably only a second or two, Sakura conjured the memory forth. She recalled that Gaara had formed a ball around him, and then, like a porcupine, had used his sand to form spikes that jutted out at all angles.

She'd been too close to avoid it and had taken an extremely hard strike to her stomach. Even now, the wound was bleeding far too heavily, and she was already beginning to feel dizzy.

But there was a fuzziness in her head that just didn't seem to fade. A voice, almost, that cried out, desperately begged, to be unleashed.

Perhaps she was simply woozy, or she couldn't quite think correctly with the shock from her injury coursing through her, but she couldn't help but want to let whatever it was that called out to her out.

_Yeah, go ahead. _Sakura told the voice. _Do it… go free._

Another pain, this time like that of a raging inferno, coursed across the back of her neck. It spread like a wildfire, engulfing the entirety of her upper body, and for a second, she feared that she really was on fire.

And then it faded, and she was left only with an intense feeling of power.

_This…_

She effortlessly dodged Gaara's incoming attack, moving forwards in an almost trance-like state as she struck Gaara's defensive wall. It was blasted away under the force of her strike.

_This is…_

Gaara's eyes widened as she closed the distance between them and connected with a punch for the first time that fight. He was sent spiraling backwards, landing on a floating patch of sand that carried him a few feet away, and brought him back into a standing position.

He looked upset, but most of all, he looked stunned.

_This is amazing!_

Sakura smiled, giggling slightly to herself as power practically flowed through her. Gone were her worries about the wound on her stomach, though it still remained, and still gushed blood on the ground below her, but she didn't have to worry about it now. She'd simply defeat the boy before her before the wound could become a problem.

It was all so simple! Why had she ever denied the curse mark's power in the first place?

Just as thoughts of her new enormous power were beginning to consume her, an odd thing began to happen.

Feathers, like those off the wings of a bird the color of snow, began to fill her field of vision.

_W-what?_

She began to feel an incredible drowsiness, one not unlike what she'd been feeling earlier when she'd begun losing blood rapidly. All of a sudden, the adrenaline coursing through her from the curse mark's power began to fade, and the pain from the wound on her chest began to freshly ache.

She recognized the feeling, though. During their battle's against Kakashi, there many, many battles as they attempted to steal a bell from him that day, Sakura had been put under the man's Genjutsu a few times. This felt eerily similar, and so she reached out her hands, putting them together, and stated simply.

"Release."

Instantly, the vision before her dissipated, and she was able to see that her opponent seemed largely unaffected by the Jutsu. Whether that meant he was somehow on the same side as the caster, or if perhaps the Tailed Beast within him gave him an advantage against Genjutsu, Sakura couldn't be sure.

Even still, from what she could immediately gather, it was affecting the people in the stands. The jeering that she'd been growing accustomed to for the last few minutes had ceased entirely, and even a few ninja that were supposed to be guarding the entrances seemed to have fallen asleep as well.

_No, wait…_

They weren't asleep. Not if the blood that gathered around their bodies meant what she thought it did.

_We're…_

"We're under attack!" Someone shouted out from the stands off to her left, where the ninjas sat. "The main gate is under attack! They've summoned a giant monster!"

_A giant monster!? _Sakura thought, trying to fight back her panic as she ran out of the arena, concluding that the fights were at this point over. _Who the hell-_

Pain shot up her entire body, and she fell forwards, just barely managing to hold herself up as she turned back around.

Gaara was still looking towards her, eyes wide with confusion.

"Why are you walking away?" The boy asked innocently. "This fight isn't over yet."

"Can't you see that something's wrong!?" Sakura screamed back, a bit of anger at the pain she was experiencing, mixing with the curse marks influence, finding its way into her voice. "The fights over!"

"The proctor did not call the match over, nor did-"

And then the world exploded with white.

/-/

"Kazekage." The Third Hokage kept his voice even as he turned towards the man sitting beside him, watching the arena below with a keen interest. "What is the meaning of this?"

"The meaning of what, Hokage?" Maybe it was all in Hiruzen's head, but the voice of the man beside him seemed raspier than it had been a minute or two ago. "I don't see why you would suspect me of doing anything. Unless, of course, you have reason to?"

His eyes widened as he put some of the pieces together, realizing just who the man beside him must be. It still didn't explain everything, though, and as Hiruzen watched the two children in the arena below them start to stagger from the effects of what seemed to be a Genjutsu, he let out a quiet sigh.

"So… this is your play then, my old student?"

"Oh, you haven't seen the half of it yet."

A second later there was a minute, almost unnoticeable crunch, like the sound of a fruit being bitten into, and Hiruzen turned a second too late to stop Orochimaru from slamming his hand down onto the floor below him.

"Summoning Jutsu!" His former student called out. "Come forth…"

"MANDA!"

The arena below them exploded into white smoke, and the sound of hissing seemed to shake the very earth itself. As the dust settled, it was to see a massive creature, standing perhaps a hundred feet tall, in the center of the coliseum below.

**"Hmmm… Orochimaru." **The creature's voice sounded itself like a hiss, echoing around the arena and causing those who were still awake in the stands to begin screaming in panic, running, and tripping over one another in order to get out first. **"I assume these… morsels are my tribute for this summon?"**

"Indeed, my friend." The Kazekage's uniform was thrown to the side, and out from under it stepped his old apprentice, clad in what had become his normal get-up ever since leaving the leaf all those years ago. "Run wild."

The snake hissed in what Hiruzen could only call satisfaction, looking down into the audience below him, darting his tongue in and out of his mouth, and letting out a sigh.

**"I do so love the scent of fear." **Manda spoke, before opening his maw as wide as he could, and darting forward, jaw extended, towards the stands below him. **"This is just perfect!"**

Hiruzen brought his hands together, trying to bring out one of his most powerful abilities to stop the snake's assault, but he was not as young as he'd once been, and his hands could not move at the blinding speed they once had. He could only watch in horror as the snake's jaws closed down upon the audience before him.

Or he would've had to, if not for the distant cry of another Summoning Jutsu, and another explosion of white smoke spreading across the arena floor. There was an impact that made the trees below bend backwards from the force, and the cry of Manda told Hiruzen all he needed to know.

"Jiraiya!" He called out, removing his Hokage outfit and setting it on the chair behind him. "I assume I can count on you to handle this!?"

The smoke cleared, and Hiruzen saw the massive toad known as Gamabunta sat smugly atop Manda's writhing form. On its head stood another of his former pupils, smiling widely and shooting him a thumbs-up.

"Of course! I'll have this done in a jiffy!" Jiraiya turned back towards his foe, looking down at the snake and yelling out. "Hey, Manda, you remember me, buddy?"

**"I hope you enjoy your skin melting off as you digest inside of me."**

"I'm fairly certain he doesn't like me."

Hiruzen turned his attention back towards Orochimaru, who looked, worryingly, quite pleased by the arrival of Jiraiya.

"I suppose, then, that you are here for me." The Third Hokage guessed, his suspicions confirmed as his old student turned towards him, eyes glinting along with his bared teeth.

"Indeed. You four!" He called out to four chakra signatures that Hiruzen sensed as they began to move. "Form the barrier!"

"Right, Lord Orochimaru!"

Hiruzen watched patiently as the four ninja around them erected a decently powerful purple barrier.

"Four Violet Flames Formation!" The children cried out as they finished, before turning their backs and forming barriers around themselves as well, effectively protecting them from anything he could try.

He couldn't help but smirk slightly. It was always so amusing to see the youth of this day and age perform so admirably, even if they were his opponents.

_I always did love being a teacher. _The old man found himself reminiscing. _Perhaps, Sometime next year, I'll give up being the Hokage to someone younger, and teach a few more kids._

There must have been something funny in his statement, for the Third Hokage found himself laughing as he stepped up to face Orochimaru, watching as the man before him brought his hands in front of him and began signing out a Jutsu.

Hiruzen did the same, becoming oddly lost in the way his former pupils hands moved. There was something mesmerizing about how they could weave so intricately, while his hands, practically ancient fossils, could nowadays barely move when he commanded them.

Maybe that was why, in a small, silent way, he already knew what it was he was walking towards. Maybe that was why his feet felt so light, why it felt like for the first time in over a decade, his hands were moving how they used to, or his back didn't ache when he stood up straight.

When he thought of teaching more students, it was not with a look towards the future that it perhaps should've been, but instead as a longing regret towards the past. He'd been stuck behind a desk for so much of the later parts of his life that he'd forgotten what it was like to live apart from it.

_I wish I'd taught more of them. _Hiruzen thought with a sigh, finishing the signs with his hands, and blowing a ball of fire towards Orochimaru's own jutsu. _I wish I'd gone out and interacted with the children at the academy more._

_Why am I thinking of regret? Why now?_

Even as he asked that question, to a certain part of him, the answer was already obvious. He didn't have to look very far at all to realize just who he was facing off against, just what the man before him represented.

He was looking his failures in the eye, facing off against them in battle.

And yet he couldn't help a small smile coming to his face.

Because perhaps, in the deepest depths of his mind, he already knew this would be his last hurrah.

/-/

By the time Naruto was able to make it down to Sakura, Kakashi and Sasuke were already patching up the wounds on her stomach. This would've made for a cute, yet admittedly rather morbid scene, if not for the giant snake and toad that fought only a few meters away, while an old, white haired man shouted obscenities down at the scaled beast.

Naruto felt like this whole scene should've seemed incredibly outlandish, but it somehow managed to feel like an honest progression of events. The fact that it didn't even seem weird was what really bothered him in the end.

"We have to go!" Kakashi shouted at Sasuke and Sakura, and the both of them nodded back to show their agreement.

Sasuke placed Sakura's arm around his shoulder, lifting her from up under her armpit and carrying her out of immediate danger. Off in the distance, Naruto watched Gaara being escorted away by his own siblings, and yet he couldn't quite help noticing something a bit odd about how they acted.

They didn't seem to be shocked by the situation. If anything, they looked to be feverishly discussing something, looking up towards the Kage's box.

Naruto turned to look himself, and his eyes widened as he witnessed one of the most impressive exchanges of Jutsu he'd ever seen.

When the flames died down, it was to see Lord Third standing off against Orochimaru, looking solemn, and yet somehow smiling despite that.

"How did-"

"LOOK OUT!"

Naruto was pulled backwards by someone's hands, and it was a good thing, too, because half a second later, the massive arm of a frog came crashing down where he'd just been standing.

"Pay attention, Naruto!" Kakashi, the one who'd pulled him back, shouted angrily, seeming truly serious for what was perhaps only the second time since they'd met him. "This is a battlefield now, there's no room to be distracted."

"R-right!" Naruto nodded, swallowing down on his fear for the old man and following behind his three teammates, trying to ignore the ground shaking as Gamabunta and that giant snake fought in the center of the arena.

They made it inside of the coliseum's inner corridors, and they got their first signs of just how bad the situation was.

"Where's my son!? Has anyone seen-"

"Everyone! Please! Remain calm and exit through-"

"We're all going to die!"

"I hear the Hidden Stone is attacking! Guess that shows what the peace treaty means to them!"

"I thought it was those damned Kiri bastards!"

"Shit." Kakashi spoke without eloquence. "Things could be going better."

"What should we do, Sensei?" Sakura asked, limping but determined to walk on her own as she broke away from Sasuke's grasp. "We can't just abandon these people."

"We're not abandoning them." Kakashi explained simply. "The ninja that are escorting them out are doing the jobs they've been trained to do. We'd only be getting in the way if we tried to help out."

Sakura's eyes widened, and she looked towards the floor.

"S-sorry…"

"Don't worry about it, Sakura." Their teacher replied softly. "I know you're just concerned, but right now we need to focus on what we can do." He looked back out of the exit, towards the arena, and noticed something that Naruto had seen just a few minutes ago. "Those three… from the Sand Village… one of them is Jinchuuriki, right?"

_Why would that matter?_

"That's what we thought." Sasuke spoke simply. "He fit all of the signs as being Shukaku's… the One-Tail's Jinchuuriki."

Kakashi rubbed his chin, seemingly deep in thought as he watched those three run off, then looked to the stands, where their Jonin Sensei was engaged in combat with a few leaf ninja, and from the looks of things, seemed to be aiming for the kill with his strikes.

"I don't like it." Their teacher spoke simply. "There's something about this whole scenario that rubs me the wrong way."

"W-what is it, Sensei?"

"I think this whole attack on the stadium is just a diversion for something bigger." Kakashi explained, looking around for something, though Naruto couldn't exactly see what that would be. A second later, he bit into his thumb, and pushed his hand down onto the floor below him. "Summoning Jutsu!"

A small explosion and a few seconds later, a single, chocolate-colored dog emerged, sitting on his hind legs and looking a lot like a stuffed turkey.

"Yo, Kakashi." The canine spoke simply. "What did you-" The dog stopped suddenly, smelling the air rather intently as he did, and before long, he nodded. "Never mind, I guess I get the picture. I'll forego asking for my usual treats this time, since this seems like an actual emergency. What do you need?"

"See those three?" Kakashi pointed towards the Sand Genin. "I'm going to assemble you a small squad, and then you're going to follow those Genin with them in tow."

"Alright. Just say the word when you're ready." The dog concluded, before sitting down and, despite the chaos, immediately falling asleep.

Kakashi brought the four of them, minus Pakkun, outside the arena, heading over to where Asuma and Kurenai Sensei were standing with their pupils, looking a bit shell-shocked, but physically fine.

He held a brief conversation with them a distance away, and though Naruto and the rest of Team 7 missed out on the words, they got the general gist.

Kakashi was asking for help.

A minute or two later he returned with Shino, Kiba, and Shikamaru following just behind him, and gestured towards them all with a small smile.

"Sasuke, Sakura." He addressed them simply. "You two are going to be going with Shino, Kiba, and Shikamaru to chase down those three from the sand village."

Naruto's eyed widened as he turned towards his friends, feeling like there was another name missing from that list.

"What about me, Kakashi Sensei?"

"You're coming with me." His teacher responded, his mask crinkling slightly as he smiled down at him. "Asuma filled me in, apparently there's a giant hydra wreaking havoc near the main gate. If we let it get inside the city limits, then it's light's out."

"W-what am I supposed to do about that, though!?"

Naruto felt his indignation was fair, given that a giant hydra sounded like something he wouldn't exactly be much help in dealing with, but Kakashi merely smiled at him again, ruffling his hair and speaking simply.

"Hasn't Lord Jiraiya been teaching you the summoning Jutsu this last month?" Kakashi asked him with a smirk. "You said you summoned a giant toad after all. I figured you'd be all for the chance to test your skills."

Naruto's eyes lit up, and even if he tried to hide it, everyone around him seemed to catch on, because they all began to giggle quietly.

"W-what!?" He lashed out without any real anger.

"Nothing, nothing." Sakura mediated, putting her hands in the air as if surrendering. "Honestly, I just think it's funny how easy you are to read."

Naruto grumbled something under his breath that even he didn't catch the meaning of, before begrudgingly following behind Kakashi as he assembled a squad of his own to go assault the monster attacking the front gate.

"We're going to need people with a lot of stopping power. I'd ask Asuma or Kurenai to do it, but I assume…"

"Yeah, I've got an assigned area already." The man nodded, apologizing as he bowed ever so slightly. "Defending the area around the arena is my priority. Besides, I'm not really cut out for fighting something big. I'm pretty anti-personnel in terms of skillset."

"And I'm tied to Hinata for the moment." Kurenai sensei spoke up. "Until she's recovered enough to escape, I'm not leaving her by herself in the medical bay. If she's able to heal up, then I promise I'll join you all."

"Yeah, I suppose that's fair." Kakashi admitted, turning not towards Choji, who was stood alongside Asuma and seemed a bit unsure of himself, but towards an entirely different instructor, stood beside his three students, all of whom seemed remarkably calm given the situation.

"Hey, Guy!" Naruto's teacher called out. "Can I borrow Tenten?"

The man tilted his head to the side in confusion, talked for a second or two with the girl in question, and then shrugged, sending her off towards the two of them and waving as he did.

"Uhm, you asked for me, Kakashi Sensei?" Tenten bowed respectfully, though she seemed incredibly confused as to just what she was supposed to be doing. "What is it you need me for?"

"I'm going to need your help with zone control." Kakashi explained simply. "In a one-on-one, your skillset may not be perfect, but when dealing with a large group of enemies, or a huge one, like we are, there's practically no one better."

Naruto noticed Tenten's face light up, and he could tell the praise meant a lot to her. Tenten had never been one that struck him as incredibly confident, and he hazarded a guess that she wasn't exactly that well respected among her peers, or perhaps even her teammates.

"I'll do my best, Sir!" Tenten spoke, giving a small salute, but her stoic visage cracked as Kakashi's did, and she looked a bit annoyed as he patted the top of her head.

"Lighten up a bit, I get this is a war-zone, but I'm no general."

"R-right, sorry."

"No worries." Kakashi dismissed easily. "Now, The three of us are going to head off to deal with that Hydra, Guy!" The man called out once more. "Can I count on you and your two students to get us there undisturbed?"

Guy Sensei smiled widely, his pearly teeth gleaming in the sunny weather.

"Of course!"

"Right, Sasuke, Sakura, Shino, Kiba, Shikamaru," The man turned once more, looking over towards where the five he'd called for stood, waiting on his command. "Go and speak with Pakkun, he'll be able to guide you to the three sand Genin you're following."

"Uhm… sir?" Shikamaru raised his hand half-heartedly. "Why exactly am I here?"

"Because you didn't look very busy." Kakashi concluded. "By the way, I do mean following. We don't know if those kids were in on this plot. It's entirely possible they're innocent. If they don't display any reason for you to engage them, then by all means, disengage and report back to me. This mission is not a failure if nothing happens at all."

The five of them nodded, even Shikamaru, although his was a tad more stunted than the others, and he wore an annoyed expression as he followed the others back into the arena.

"Alright, for you two, we're going through the city to get to the front gate. Stick close to me, I'll keep any stray Jutsu or enemy ninja from hitting you, but I will need you to stay on your toes. I can't protect both of you at once."

Naruto and Tenten both nodded, but there was definitely some hesitance as they thought of what could happen to them if they let their guards slip.

"Okay, let's get going. We're letting Guy's team lead the way, while we're on reserve for active combat." Kakashi explained. "Basically, they're punching a hole for us, and we're going through it. Make sense?"

"Yeah!"

"Yes sir."

"Alright then…"

"Let's begin the operation."

/-/

By the time Haku noticed where his feet were carrying him, he was far too worried to turn and walk away.

He'd been enjoying the festival activities on his own, apart from Zabuza for the first time in what may've been a month or two. They'd been doing their best to stay… not incognito, but to avoid attracting attention. This had been the first time that Zabuza had given him express permission to do whatever he wanted, as he'd been assigned to watch the civilian population in the backside of the village, along with protecting the canyon-wall hideouts in the event of an emergency.

Haku had decided to make of today what he could, using some of the pocket money Zabuza had given him and trying to enjoy himself. Idly, in the back of his mind, he'd really done nothing but think of Ino.

Which was beginning to become more and more of a theme for him, lately. From what master Zabuza had told him, which had included terrible, horrible things, he knew now that he had a 'crush' on the girl.

That was all well and good to say, but it was a pain to deal with. Every time he was around her he went and made an absolute buffoon of himself, hell, he could barely even speak to the girl. His own idiocy was really beginning to get on his nerves.

He'd heard the first explosions while he was lost in thought.

His eyes had widened, and briefly, he was brought back to his times as an assassin, serving faithfully under his master as nothing more than a tool. Those times had been worse than the peace and quiet he enjoyed now, but they had undoubtedly been simpler. There were no crushes to worry about, or social standings to be concerned with.

There was only the enemy, and his ability to kill them.

He watched as the wall in the distance was overrun, and a massive, multi-headed beast broke through it, roaring into the sky. There were other figures that from his distance looked almost like ants, but he could tell, based on the way they collided with others, that they must've been enemy ninja.

And they were coming his way.

No, that wasn't a concern. Haku could defend his own life from some pesky ninja, hell, even an average Jonin wouldn't be able to harm him, but that didn't mean that level of apathy extended towards others in the village.

After all, Ino's flower shop was in their way as well, even closer to the entrance to the village than he currently was.

_She wouldn't be there. _A logical part of his mind reasoned. _She would go and see her friends compete in the Chuunin Exams. She's not going to be at her parents flower shop at a time like this._

That made sense. It really, truly did make sense.

_So why can't I stop my legs?_ Haku wondered as he ran, rushing ahead at a full sprint, towards the flower shop where Ino _surely _wasn't.

_Because on the off chance I'm wrong, she'd be in danger._

And it really was that simple. Perhaps it was just a schoolyard crush, as Zabuza had so annoyingly put it, but that didn't mean he would sit by and let someone he liked get hurt. He may very well have been charging into the belly of the beast…

But he'd do it, on the off chance that she was in danger.

When he finally rounded the corner to Ino's shop, his eyes bulged in his head as he saw the door knocked off its hinges.

Without Haku even thinking about it, Ice gathered on the tips of his fingers.

**End Chapter 29**

* * *

**Alright, into the land of cliffhangers once more.**

**I'd apologize, but honestly, at this point, I think you all get the picture.**

**I could complain for several paragraphs about North American League of Legends, and how bad they are, but I won't.**

**Next chapter, what will Haku find within Ino's flower shop? Is she alright? Is she even there? ****Will Sasuke and Sakura be able to overcome the Sand Genin? And can Naruto use the summoning Jutsu on command like Kakashi thinks?**

**Find out next episode of Dragon Ball Z!**

**Probably... Wait did I make that joke already?**

**See you all next week.**


	30. Chapter 30

**Hello!**

**Here we are with another chapter of Trip Down a Hill. This is going to be the first part of the Konoha Crush arc, which will likely last another 2 or 3 chapters.**

**Other than that, I don't really have much to say.**

**Without further ado, you get the picture.**

* * *

**Chapter 30: Melting Exteriors**

* * *

Haku sidled alongside the front wall of Ino's flower shop, making his way carefully towards the door, which lay discarded upon the ground a few feet away.

There was a part of him that screamed out for him to charge blindly forward, but that had never been the kind of fighter he was, and he knew that if Ino really was inside, he'd have a much better chance of saving her if he went in calmly, and with the poise to not alert anyone inside.

Of course, that all went out the window when he heard a girl's scream.

_Ino!_

He was inside in nary a moment, and his eyes immediately trained upon the backs of two ninja, both of whom had their weapons raised and trained upon the girl in question, who had fallen backwards onto the floor, holding a kunai out at her assailants.

"Hiding, girlie?" One of them spoke, sounding all too full of himself as he took a single step forward. "C'mon out. We don't bite, I promise."

Ino backed away further, pushing herself backwards across the floor and breathing heavily as she found her back against the furthest wall, realizing she was cornered.

"Look at that." The other Oto ninja pointed to the headband that Ino wore around her waist. "Leaf Kunoichi, huh?"

"Oh, damn," The first ninja laughed, shaking his head, clearly rather amused with himself. "My apologies, but in that case, we actually do bite quite a lot."

Haku watched as Ino subtly brought her hands together, making the sign of the Yamanaka clan's signature Jutsu, and held it out. Just as she was about to cast her Jutsu, the ninja who had just spoken reached out with blinding speed, catching her hands with his own and hauling the girl forward, throwing her upon the ground like a bag of rice.

Haku moved without even thinking, without so much as an idle thought. He'd been stood behind one of the many island shelves inside of the shop, and the next moment, he'd vaulted over it, brought an icicle into his right hand, and driven it into the neck of the second ninja.

The man screamed as he grabbed a hold of him from behind, but it was already too late. Haku had become particularly gifted at assassination during his time as Zabuza's tool, and he knew how to kill someone efficiently, without giving them a chance to react.

He put his hand against the wound on the man's neck, and, without missing a beat, poured chakra into it. His own Kekkei Genkai, the Ice release of his forgotten clan, mixed with the man's blood, causing his body temperature to drop nearly instantly.

As Haku dropped backwards off the man's back and took a fighting position, the block of ice that had once been an Oto ninja fell to the floor beside him, shattering as it collapsed upon the ground.

"What the – Jean!?" The other ninja shouted, completely forgetting about the girl he'd been about to slaughter and turning to face Haku. "You bastard!"

Haku ignored the man's rage. The death of what he could only assume was this man's friend would be a shock that would put the ninja on edge. He'd be more prone to making mistakes, more prone to overreaching and trying to kill Haku before he was given a window to do so.

He'd need it, too, because judging by the way his opponent carried himself, The man was a Jonin.

His assailant charged forwards, making the signs for what Haku could tell at a glance was a Lightning Jutsu.

"Lightning Release: Lightning Ball!"

The Jutsu lived up to it's name, as 10 or so balls of lightning spawned into existence around the man, and he hurled them forwards, forcing Haku to either dodge away or take them with a Jutsu of his own.

That was just what Haku had in mind. He pulled from his Kekkei Genkai once more, using his special chakra, and slammed his hand down on the ground.

"Ice Release: Ice Wall!"

He'd made the Jutsu up on the spot, but it hadn't seemed all that complicated to make when he'd thought about it, and as a few crystals of ice sprung up from the ground and blocked the oncoming lightning, he found himself correct.

Haku dodged around the wall, ready to get into close range with his opponent, when he found himself ground to a halt almost immediately.

"Don't move!" His opponent practically screamed, digging his Kunai even further into Ino's neck, and drawing a small stream of blood. "Move and I tear her damn throat out!"

Ino didn't make a sound as she met Haku's eyes, but he could tell she was afraid. She was far weaker than the man holding her, both in relative strength and in terms of ninja ability. It was not her fault that she was an average Genin, being held hostage by a Jonin.

But as he looked into her eyes, and could see the raw fear coursing through her, there came a feeling from inside Haku at that moment that he had not felt in half a lifetime. Perhaps it was the fact that they were both helpless in their situations, or that they both had looked at him with such terror, or that ice was gathering on the tips of his fingers, his toes, the ends of the hairs on his head, but he couldn't help but think of when his mother had been slaughtered in front of him.

He couldn't help but feel that same feeling off loss, that feeling of letting his Kekkei Genkai free.

He needed a window, though, because he couldn't attack while the man before him still held Ino.

Apparently, though, Ino saw that as well, because she did something incredibly stupid a half second later.

She headbutted the man with the back of her skull.

It wasn't a hard hit, and truly, in any other circumstance, Haku imagined it would've only served to annoy her assailant, but the brief moment of pause was all he needed to throw out a dozen senbon from his fingers, all of which landed in the sound ninja's body, and more specifically, his right hand. A second later, the very same hand seized up from his pressure points being hit, and he dropped the Kunai he'd been holding.

Ino, through some dumb luck, seemed to pick that same moment to free herself as well, stepping on the man's foot and vaulting forwards, landing a few feet away from her opponent.

"Ino." Haku spoke with an odd sense of clarity as chakra flooded his system. "Get behind something."

The girl's eyes widened, but she got the picture, running behind the same island shelf he'd hidden behind when he'd entered and ducking down.

The sound ninja had recovered and looked to be bringing his hands together for another Jutsu, but it didn't matter.

It was already too late for him.

"Lightning Release: Ligh-"

"Begone."

From out of Haku's body, ice crystals flowed forth, carving their way through the wooden walls and floors of the shop like a hot knife through butter. He watched as the man before him brought his hands up, trying with all his might to block the oncoming storm of frozen death.

But as the world became only white and cold, a trickle of red and warmth proclaimed that his opponent had failed.

/-/

The first thing Ino realized when the rumbling stopped was that she was still alive.

That probably should've come at less of a shock, but she'd thought she was a goner about 10 times in the last two minutes, so she was fairly sure she could be forgiven for believing it one last time.

As she stood up, she nearly found herself impaled upon a jagged icicle that jutted out just above her head. She took in her surroundings a bit more carefully after that, and after a second or two to catch her bearings, she found a place where she could stand safely.

She couldn't help but cry internally about the state of her families shop. Massive stalactites of ice were shooting out from multiple angles, and very few places in the building had been spared from their wrath. The walls and ceiling had more than a few holes, sure, but there was more rubble than there was clean floor at this point.

As she looked down at the shattered remains of a sound ninja, the one Haku had first snuck up upon, on the ground below her, she couldn't help but cringe slightly.

Still, that didn't mean she wasn't glad he'd shown up.

_If he hadn't… _

She chose not to think about it, instead shaking her head and stepping around a rather precariously placed icicle. As she made her way around it, she finally found Haku.

The boy didn't look good, he was panting hard, and seemed to be gripping his heart for some reason. His breath was visible in the air, as well, even though the icicles themselves had only brought the temperature of the hot day down perhaps 20 degrees in their small room.

_Does that mean his organs are freezing!? _Ino thought to herself in a panic. _Maybe I could–_

"Ino!" Having her name shouted brought her out of her thoughts, and she looked up to see the boy had hobbled his way over to her, and, rather embarrassingly, immediately brought her into a tight hug. "I was… worried," The boy panted as he spoke, barely able to formulate his sentence past what now seemed to be a mixture of exhaustion and an overuse of his ice. "I thought that… maybe I'd hit you with my ice as well… I didn't mean to use this much of it, I'm sorry, your shop is all ruined now, and I-"

There was something about the boy's apologetic tone that irked her, more than enough for her to reach over and flick him in the forehead, causing him to stagger backwards and look up at her like a confused dog that you'd accidentally stepped on.

And just like stepping on a dog, she felt immediately bad about what she'd done.

"S-sorry, I just… Don't worry about my dumb shop, okay?" Ino finally spoke, rubbing the back of her head in exasperation as she did. "I'm glad you prioritized me over this rickety old shack."

"Oh… uhm… okay." The boy nodded, still seeming a bit unsure of himself.

A second later the alleyway outside their building exploded in flames, and Haku tackled her to the floor. There was a sudden warmth, a blinding flash of light, and then nothing.

The weight upon Ino's body didn't shift, nor did it move in any way. For a moment, she feared the worst, pushing Haku off as gently as she could and getting up to examine him. She breathed a sigh of relief as she felt a pulse, trying to ignore the newly acquired burns on her legs and feet that hissed with pain.

The explosion hadn't been terribly large, but it had hit with enough force to push itself into the shop, which had unfortunately had its door ripped off when the sound ninjas had torn their way in. It was only the lingering dregs that made their way over to them, but it had still been enough to singe her legs and set the bandages she tied around her thighs ablaze.

As she put out the small flames that still flickered across the remnants of her bandages, wincing slightly as she did, she couldn't help but turn to Haku, whose back had terrible burns running nearly the entire length of his spine, the explosion having almost completely destroyed his green haori.

"H-Haku? Are you alright!?" She let out without any real thought, too lost in her worries for the boy's safety to think. "Can you hear me!?"

"Y-yes… I can hear you." Haku spoke as simply and respectfully as he always did, trying even now to push himself into a sitting position.

It was Ino who stopped him, instead grabbing his arm and putting it over her own shoulders, hauling him up and trying to ignore the way he gasped in pain as she brought him into a sitting position.

"Where does it hurt?" She asked simply, setting him against the front wall a few feet away from the door, which was one of the only places that was relatively unscathed in their shop. "My family keeps a first aid kit around here somewhere; I can try to patch you up."

Haku seemed to consider her words for a few seconds, before looking outside and wincing, though whether that was at the gloom of their general situation, or in pain, she couldn't tell.

"I'm fine, really." The boy lied through his teeth, smiling over at her as he did. "It doesn't hurt at all."

_Why are all boys like this? _Ino thought with a scowl, finally finding the first aid kit beneath a pile of rubble and digging through it for a roll of bandages.

"Just… turn around, if you can."

The boy looked like he was going to object, but a stern look had him swallowing air, turning around and facing the wall, and showing off the horrid burns across his back. Ino winced as the boy gasped slightly when she applied a small amount of cream to the wounds, but for his sake she tried to stay as quiet as she could.

"Why were you here, Ino?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… shouldn't you have been at the arena? I thought you'd go cheer on your friends."

_I guess that would've made sense._

"I was supposed to go and see Sakura compete, but my dad got assigned a pretty important mission near the back of the village, and my mom's been sick all week. The Chuunin exams are a special occasion as well, so we couldn't afford to just shut down the shop, not with how much business we've been getting. So, I volunteered to stay behind and watch the storefront."

Haku stayed relatively quiet after that, which was a relief, because she really needed to focus on tying these damn bandages!

_Why are these things so hard!? _Ino couldn't help but complain. _Just… one… more… Got it!_

As she tied the final bandage in a knot, pulling it taut around Haku's body and causing the boy to wince slightly, she stood up, put her hand out, and pulled Haku to his feet.

"Alright, so just how – Haku!"

She grabbed the boy just before he could fall, and it was then that she realized just how bad his condition must've been, for he was gasping as he held onto her, as if she were the only lifeline he had left.

"You told me you were fine." She spoke annoyedly, wishing that the boy could've just been honest with her.

"L-lied…" He practically whispered, trying his hardest just to speak. "Sorry… didn't want to weigh you down… thought I could manage the pain."

"Honestly…" Ino breathed out, before preparing herself, taking a deep breath, and hoisting the boy back to his feet.

It wasn't easy to keep him aloft. Haku wasn't heavy by any stretch, as was customary from the life of a ninja, but that didn't make him light either. He easily outclassed her in terms of weight, which meant that she was having difficulty even as she only helped him walk.

"Ino…" He spoke quietly, reservedly.

She ignored him, soldiering on as best she could as she dragged the two of them out of the shop, stumbling slightly as her foot connected with the broken-down door of her family's store. She turned around, looking back at the now dilapidated building behind her, and sighed heavily as she took it all in.

_The Yamanaka flower shop… its destroyed._

She couldn't dwell, however. Not when she had someone else's life relying on her own. She needed to be strong, for her and Haku both.

"Ino… please…"

Once more, she ignored him, and the pain in her legs, as she took another few steps.

She barely made it to the next building before she collapsed, panting heavily.

"Damnit!" She screamed in frustration. "Damnit, Damnit, Damnit!"

"Ino, we can't get to safety." Haku summarized her own thoughts. "Not if you're carrying me."

_Damnit! Shut up! _She mentally screeched, pounding her fist on the dirt road beneath her and turning back to look Haku in the eye.

He had an annoying determination in his own dark-brown orbs as he stared her down, before looking back towards the shop, and smiling.

"The two of us can't get away, but you might be able to on your own. Those ninja's we encountered were just a scouting party, there were only two of them. I'm willing to bet they were only sensory ninja, probably why I was able to beat them so easily… but that means that the more powerful ones will come once those two don't report back in."

"So… what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that if we don't clear out of here soon, we're both going to get caught." Haku concluded, looking back over to her, and smiling in a way that made her stomach sick. "I'm asking you to leave me behind."

Her thoughts swam as she stared in shock at the boy before her, trying to find how he could look so damned positive when he was throwing his life away.

"You know you'll die!" She shouted perhaps a bit too loud. "If you stick around here, you'll die, end of story!"

"Maybe not." Haku spoke, still smiling with that same damned expression. "If I go back in there, and barricade the wall with an ice release Jutsu, I may be able to escape notice."

"Are you kidding!?" She fired back angrily. "You think they wouldn't notice the door made of ice and think "Huh, that seems a bit fishy, I wonder if it's related to the two ninjas we're missing?"!?"

Haku stayed quiet, but the smile didn't leave his face, even if it did become a bit sadder than before.

"They might not notice it." Was all he could say.

"Don't give me that garbage!" She screamed once more, grabbing the boy's arm, and eliciting a small hiss of pain from Haku. He didn't complain as she hauled the two of them up, or as she began walking, completely ignoring the pain from the burns on her legs and feet and the way her muscles ached as she pushed the two of them forward. "I am _not _leaving you behind! I refuse!"

"You'll be killed, too!" Haku raised his voice for perhaps the first time she'd ever heard. "If they catch us, I can't defend us!"

"Then I won't let them catch us!"

"You're being overwhelmingly stubborn." Haku spoke, calming back down to his usual timbre, but still carrying a hint of a growl at the back of his voice. "Don't make me stop you."

It would've perhaps been a threat, one born for her safety, but a threat nonetheless, if it were not for the ease of which Ino saw through the boy's fragile veneer.

"You won't." She spoke simply. "If you tried to break away from me, I'd merely come back over and pick you up. That would slow the both of us down, putting me in danger." She kept going, feeling raw anger for the boy's idiocy flow into her voice. "If you tried to harm me to keep me from getting you up, or knocked me out, that would prevent me from being able to get away, thus putting me in danger."

The boy's eyes widened, but she knew she had him when he turned away, pointedly avoiding meeting Ino's own gaze.

"Don't think I can't read you like a damned book, Haku, because I can!" She finished speaking, breathing heavily as she cleared the alley they were in, and almost immediately running straight into a ninja from the sound village.

Luckily, it seemed the woman hadn't seen them, and Ino was able to duck back into the alleyway, staying hidden as she placed Haku down.

"We won't be able to get by her." The boy spoke simply as he erased his chakra signature. "If you'd just-"

"Shut up, I'm trying to think."

"…Right." Haku whispered quietly. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize. You're trying to protect me." She turned and smiled down at him. "Admirable, just really dumb."

Haku seemed to take that a bit personally, but he didn't speak as she began trying to form a mental map of their area.

"Ok, so… we're here." She drew a small map in the sand below her. Well, she called it a map, but it was more a circle with a dot inside of it. "We're pretty close to the main gate, which means that when the ninja's start showing up, we're pretty screwed."

Haku simply nodded.

"We'd need to get further inside the village, which is…" She thought for a moment, before looking in front of them, and off to the right, directly where the Kunoichi from the sound village was standing. "Right there, unfortunately."

"We could probably kill her before she saw us." Haku added, sending a small chill down Ino's spine as he did.

"Ok, no." She spoke simply, narrowing her eyes as she glared at him. "No more of that heartless crap."

"Uhm… I'm sorry, what?"

"Back in the shop, you saved me, but you killed those two ninja." She explained. "Well… I don't like it. Don't kill anyone for my sake, got it!?"

Haku's eyebrows drew down into a confused expression, as if he was flabbergasted that she could even complain about something so asinine.

"You do realize they're trying to kill us as well, correct?" Haku spoke, his usual elegance falling to the wayside as he began to get heated. "We can't afford to be kind when they'll show us no such mercies!"

"Alright, if it's literally life and death, then sure, do what you must!" She whispered angrily. "But! If there is a chance for us to pass by someone without killing them, then I want to take that route instead."

"You can't afford to think about things like guilt on the battlefield." Haku chided, his eyes darkening in a way she'd never seen before. "Play on your enemies bonds, destroy them in front of them, break them down and utilize it to your advantage. If we don't work with everything we have, we don't have a chance in _hell _of making it out of this alive!"

Ino felt chills run up her spine, but she didn't say anything for another minute, instead focusing on mapping out their intended route, and a secondary route they could take just in case they were blocked off.

When she finally did speak up, it was with a slightly defeated tone.

"You might be right." Ino admitted, looking up and seeing that Haku's eyes were wide. "It might be safer for us to kill those we come across, but I refuse to compromise my own morals just to save my own hide. They might be our enemies, but they're people, too!"

There was a quiet silence that filled the alleyway as the two of them patched themselves up. Ino spent a few moments rubbing some of the burn cream from earlier into her leg, whilst Haku wrapped and rewrapped some of the bandages around his chest. When the boy finally responded to her words, it was with an oddly soft look on his face, and a small, sad smile.

"Hold onto that."

"What?"

"Master Zabuza once told me that morals are something only the strong can afford to have, that the weak must rely on our instincts and our brutality." The boy grew quieter as he continued, a sad smile coming to rest upon his face. "I think… I never quite felt the way you did about it. I lost my family in the span of an hour, and then I wandered the snow-covered mist village for months before Zabuza picked me up."

Ino found herself being drawn into the boy's story, and having finished coming up with their escape route, she chose to listen to him as she hauled him up, walking the both of them out of the alleyway the back way, avoiding the sound ninja they'd seen entirely, even if it would take them all the way around, effectively doubling their initial travel time.

"You see terrible things happen every day on those streets." Haku spoke quietly, solemnly. "I was one of the lucky ones. Most kids who get picked up off the street… well, no one heard from them again."

Ino caught his meaning, even without him having to explain it. She tried to ignore the sickness forming in her stomach at his words, even as she pulled them both into a small crevice to avoid being seen by a sound ninja passing by overhead, jumping from rooftop to rooftop.

"When Zabuza told me to kill for the first time… I didn't even think about it. I didn't want to make my benefactor mad… so I did what I had to do. By the time I could afford to look back and feel anything… I just didn't." Haku finished, his head falling and coming to rest on her shoulder, though whether or not he'd meant it to, or was really so exhausted that he was spacing out a bit, she couldn't tell. "What I'm saying is… hold onto your ability to care. That in and of itself is a talent, and one that's just as important, if not more important, than the ability to take a life."

Haku's words stuck with her, even as they managed to make it into another alleyway, perhaps 3 or 4 blocks from the Yamanaka flower shop. They had another 15 to 20, if her calculations were correct, before they could make it to the arena, and what Ino assumed would be the brunt of security.

"Thanks." Ino spoke softly as they took another break for her to rest her aching muscles, and briefly massage some of the burn cream into the wounds running up and down her legs. "I… I don't really know what to say other than thank you."

"You don't have to say anything." Haku responded as Ino rubbed some of the cream onto his burnt and exposed back. "You've taught me some things today that I never knew, but I'd like to think that goes both ways."

She smiled.

"It does."

"How much further?"

She brought up her mental map in her head, trying to think about how far they'd come.

"We're about… a quarter of the way there?" She spoke without any real confidence.

"Not exactly what I'd hoped to hear."

Despite their situation, Ino found herself giggling quietly.

"Yeah, but we're making progress. We can do it."

Haku smiled back, a simple smile lacking any of his usual poise or grace.

_Perhaps, underneath his cold, perfect exterior, this is how Haku really is?_

"We should be moving." The boy said, managing to push himself up and, from what Ino could see, support himself on his own two feet. "I think I'm alright to walk a bit. That should let us make better time, as well."

"Alright." Ino breathed out, trying to gather enough energy to keep moving, despite the burns on her legs and the aches of her muscles.

"Let's keep going."

/-/

"Keep your guards up, there's someone up ahead!"

"Right!" Sasuke shouted, before passing the message along to those behind him. "Someone's up ahead, be ready."

"Gotcha." Sakura responded, before herself passing the message back to Shino, who passed it back to Shikamaru, who passed it back to Kiba.

It had been a fairly spontaneous formation that Shikamaru suggested. Power up front with the Sharingan to scan for enemies, added with Pakkun's nose picking up anything Sasuke's eyes couldn't. Sakura in second, having no real sensory abilities. Shino in the middle, being able to use his bugs to watch the entire formation. Shikamaru in fourth to pass on commands and actions to the whole line, and Kiba in the back, using Akamaru's nose to pick up anything Pakkun missed.

It was a relatively faultless formation, at least from Sasuke's point of view. It had no real clear weaknesses, and it's strengths, in terms of tracking down a running target, were numerous.

As they came across one of those targets, however, Sasuke realized that they weren't dealing with a couple of innocent kids at all.

A massive blast of wind had them all covering their faces, and they fell from the trees they'd been jumping through a few seconds later, landing on the earth below and staring at the progenitor of the gale herself.

"Yo." The girl named Temari spoke confidently. "I'll ask you just once, turn around and stop following us."

"If you'll tell us why you're running away, and maybe where you're running to, we'd be happy to escort you there." Sasuke spoke, giving his teammates time to flank the girl from all angles. "Otherwise I'm going to have to ask you to stand down and surrender."

"Oh, and why would I do that?"

"We have reason to believe your teammate is the carrier of the One-Tail." Sasuke spoke, watching the girl's face for any reaction, and grinning slightly as he eyes went wide. "So we were wondering just what it was you were doing, taking him so deep into the forest."

Temari didn't speak again, instead she merely raised her fan and placed it behind her back, striking an odd pose that he could only assume was a battle stance. It spoke the words she wasn't willing to, however.

She would not let them pass.

"Go, you three." Shikamaru spoke, grabbing Kiba by the shoulder and stepping forward. "Mission's changed. No need for my tactics if all they're planning to do is delay. Me and Kiba here can take this girl."

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly, but he nodded as he, Sakura, and Shino stepped around, doing their best to come from too many sides, so that Temari would have no choice but to let some of them get by.

"Oh and do me a favor." Shikamaru spoke up one last time. "Don't do something stupid like engaging that Gaara kid if something weird does happen. I think I speak for everyone when I say I'd like to see you three come back in one piece."

Sasuke nodded towards the boy, before, with a flick of his wrist, he sent three shuriken directly at Temari. As he did, Sakura and Shino began to run past her, forcing her to either dodge, attack, or allow them to pass.

The choice was taken from her a second later as Shikamaru and Kiba charged into her guard, effectively pinning her down as the three of them forced their way through, and back into the tree line, and even further still, until they could no longer hear the sounds of combat.

They fell into a lull as the three of them continued running. There was only the small ambiance of the occasional bird, and the rustling of the wind though the leaves. The silence was broken, however, as a clump of beetles suddenly surrounded Shino.

From what he could see, they seemed to be passing on a message.

"There's another one ahead." He spoke, almost entirely inexpressive. "I will handle him. You two, do not stop moving."

They nodded, deciding it was probably best to just let Shino do what he wanted. A second or two later, he dropped from the tree line, and the sounds of combat echoed out into the trees for a while longer, until at last they faded, and he and Sakura were left alone.

They were out of sensory ninja at that point, but Pakkun was still in front of them, sniffing carefully as he jumped from tree to tree, and every once in a while looking back to make sure they were still following him.

"We're about half a kilometer away from that boy, so if we want to catch him, we need to speed up our pace."

They nodded once more, keeping to a pace that was faster than what Gaara was traveling at, but not too fast as to exhaust them.

It took them perhaps 10 minutes to catch the boy, but they were surprised to find that when they did, he seemed to already be waiting for them.

Sasuke had never really interacted with Gaara before, and to be honest, he'd never seen the need to. The boy reeked of murderous intent at practically all times, and it seemed like the only thing that kept him from acting on those feelings was a hair-trigger, oh so easily set off.

"Temari said there was someone chasing us." The boy said as they landed in front of him. "You are the teammates of that boy, Naruto, correct?"

"Yeah," Sakura responded, eyebrows drawn down, as if suspecting the boy was up to something. "Why?"

"I have been thinking about him a lot since our talk a little while ago." The boy admitted without holding back. "His words… they are just like the ones Yashamaru spoke to me when I was a child. They have made me remember things I would rather not… and think about things I had not considered."

_That's… interesting. _Sasuke surmised. _I wonder if we could use his hesitation._

"Who's Yashamaru?" Sakura asked, turning towards him, and nodding her head, seemingly having had the same idea of keeping him talking.

"Yashamaru is… was my uncle. He was… more of a father to me than my real father." Gaara told them, falling for their scheme more easily than Sasuke had predicted. "He taught me a lot about things like… pain, and love, and sorrow." Gaara's face darkened minutely, and already Sasuke had the feeling the story didn't have a happy ending. "He tried to kill me, having placed the blame of my mother's death upon me, as she died giving birth to me. I… I killed him without knowing who he was, and with his last breaths, he cursed me."

Sasuke could empathize, having been betrayed by his own brother, losing everything and everyone he'd ever loved in one night. He almost wanted to reach out and try and talk more with the boy…

But they had a job to do, and Sasuke wasn't about to let his feelings get in the way.

_…But maybe they wouldn't? _Sasuke couldn't help but think to himself. _Maybe I could use my own experiences to keep him talking, while also empathizing with him a bit?_

While he was thinking, Sakura kept Gaara talking.

"That's terrible, I'm very sorry."

"Why do you all apologize?"

Sasuke's train of thought broke as he looked up at Gaara's confused face. He was not indignant, or angry, like Sasuke had once been when people had given him pity. No, Gaara looked really, truly confused, as if he couldn't quite comprehend why they'd apologize to him.

But mixed in there, just a tiny movement of his eyebrows, was a modicum of doubt.

_Is that Naruto's influence, perhaps?_

"Well… Because I felt bad for you, I guess." Sakura tried to explain. "I can't really relate to your experiences, but I still feel horrible for you."

"But-" Gaara seemed about to try to question further but held himself back after a few seconds. "Is it that… you're feeling my pain, and then…" Gaara looked to be trying to piece together Sakura's feelings, trying his best to learn about what they were feeling. "You thought about my experiences, and felt my pain through your own lens?"

"Yeah, I guess that's a pretty good way of putting it." Sakura smiled, trying to erase the sadness from her visage.

"I see." Gaara seemed to contemplate what he wanted to say next for a while, taking nearly 20 seconds to speak. "I am not… separated from those kinds of feelings after all."

_That's good! _Sasuke found himself thinking. _Maybe he won't want to fight us now._

"Earlier, my sister, Temari, told my brother and I to go on, that she would hold off your approach." Gaara explained, his face remaining neutral, except for his eyebrows, which betrayed a small feeling of sadness. "I was… I felt something when she said that. I'm still not sure myself what it was, but… I did not want her to do such a thing."

"And then my brother," Gaara continued, not even paying them any attention anymore. "He did the same thing a moment later, deciding to stay behind when we found out you were still coming after us. I felt that same… feeling in my chest." The boy reached down, grasping the cloth that hung over his breast. "Like my heart was tightening."

"Then… perhaps you don't need to fight us?" Sasuke suggested, taking a step forward. "If you three would be willing to surrender and stay with us for the remainder of this incident in the village, we won't attack you anymore." Sasuke offered, reaching his hand out. "Surrender, and we'll make sure you and your siblings will be safe."

Sand encircled his hand, and briefly, he thought that Gaara would aim to cut the limb clean off. A second later, however, he realized that the boy was merely lowering his hand, bringing it back down to Sasuke's side, and then releasing it.

"No." The boy spoke clearly. "This feeling… I don't know what it is yet, but I do know that they stayed behind so I could accomplish my mission. I want to complete our mission, so that those from our village that first gave us this mission will recognize them… will recognize us."

Sasuke thought it was all well and good that the boy was having this realization about himself and his feelings, but he couldn't quite help but curse the fact that it had to happen right now, instead of a day or two from now, when it would've led to him not having to fight a Jinchuuriki with only a single other person as back up.

_Screw my damn luck. _Sasuke thought simply. _Of course, this wasn't going to be easy._

"I bear the two of you no ill will, that I can be sure of." Gaara said, looking them each in the eye, and bringing his face back into complete calm. "The people from the leaf have truly taught me a lot, but that does not mean I will hold back."

_Good. _Sasuke thought to himself. _Just fantastic. _

"Ready, Sakura?"

"Heh, he's not really giving me a choice in the matter."

"Yeah." Sasuke responded simply as a torrent of sand threatened to overtake their position.

"He's really not."

/-/

"Naruto, on your six!"

Naruto complied with Tenten's shouting, rolling to the side and laying on the ground as a raging ball of flame flew over him. He stood a second later, dashing to the end of the rooftop and vaulting to the next one, landing beside Tenten and just barely getting behind her before she launched what might've been her hundredth volley of weapons back towards their opponents.

He couldn't deny their effectiveness, though, as the enemy ninja were forced to fall back behind the makeshift cover of a chimney to avoid being skewered, which meant they definitely couldn't return fire as he and Kakashi kept moving forward, following the hole that Guy and his team were punching in the oncoming enemies.

Still, even when they punched a hole into the formation, they couldn't keep it open forever with only the six of them. There were far too many enemies, which meant that they were being flanked from all sides as they kept moving.

It would've been a suicide mission, if they didn't have a trump card.

"Alright, Naruto." Kakashi shouted to him as he turned back to look him in the eye. "Just so we're clear, you _can_ use the summoning Jutsu on command, yes?"

"You've asked me this four times now!" Naruto shouted back indignantly, finding himself more than a little annoyed at this point. "I've already told you, it doesn't always work, but I've never failed when it counts!"

"Right, but I'm more asking about the definition of 'when it counts'!"

"I'll be able to do it!" Naruto screeched. "That's what that means!"

"Alright, gotcha, just making sure."

The Hydra in the distance let out a howling roar, and if Naruto were a bit more superstitious than he already was, he might've thought the beast had heard him, and was calling him out on his bullshit.

Which would've been fair, given that Naruto's summoning ability was about as consistent as Gaara's mood.

Oh, he'd been able to summon that giant Gamabunta, and he'd formed a pact with the guy as well, but that didn't mean he could pull it off every time he wanted to. In fact, the majority of the time he tried to summon, he accidentally called in a tadpole, or something even more embarrassing then that.

Hell, sometimes he might as well have used a smoke grenade.

But he was confident that when the chips were down, he'd be able to summon something more substantial. Hell, he'd been able to do it when Jiraiya threw him into that damned cavernous void.

He'd also had an interesting talk with the Nine-Tails which, looking back, seemed to have been the two of them talking smack to each other for 30 seconds before Naruto had caved and begged for some chakra to save his life.

It had worked, but his dignity had died an ugly death in the waters of the Nine-Tails' cage.

Still, from what he'd seen, Jiraiya was currently using Gamabunta to fight that giant snake Orochimaru had summoned. That meant that he certainly wasn't summoning him for this little mission.

_And if I do accidentally summon him, I'm fairly sure Jiraiya will kill me._

In front of them, an explosion went off, and Naruto immediately panicked, thinking something had happened to their vanguard.

"It's alright!" He heard a man scream a second later, and instantly recognized, simply thanks to the boisterousness of the voice, that it was Guy Sensei. "We're alright! Kakashi, I assume this is far enough!?"

"Yeah!" Kakashi called back, gazing only a hundred feet ahead to where the Hydra had crashed through the gate, and was slithering it's way towards them. "Transition over to rear defense, we don't want these guys interrupting us."

"Alright!" Guy spoke, before looking at the thing, putting a hand on his chin, and lightly remarking. "You know, I could probably just use the sixth or seventh gate and-"

"And make yourself completely useless afterwards?" Kakashi called out to him, speaking in a deadpan voice. "In the middle of an active war-zone?"

"Alright, alright, sheesh." The man said, sounding oddly cowed. "It was just an idea."

"Appreciated, but unnecessary, we'll take it from here."

"Got it. Neji, Lee, On me!"

"Right!"

"Yes, Guy Sensei!"

"Tenten, you form up with them," Kakashi told the girl. "I appreciate you covering our flank back there, if you've got any seals left, then your help would be crucial as well."

Tenten nodded, taking a deep breath, and then turning around, charging after her team, and drawing her scroll out even further. She'd already gone through at least half of it, but it seemed she still had more, despite having already thrown out perhaps a hundred Jutsu.

"Now, Naruto," Kakashi spoke up, turning towards him with his eyes hard. "You ready?"

Naruto felt like he should've been annoyed, having been asked that same question 5 times now, but there was something about this time, now that they were really there, that had his blood stilling, his nerves calming, and his breaths evening out.

He hadn't realized it, but he'd been panicking for a moment, with the weight of all of their efforts on his shoulders. Kakashi had seen that, and pulled him out of it before his feelings could consume him.

_Thank you, Kakashi Sensei._

"Yeah."

_I appreciate it._

"As I'll ever be."

**End Chapter 30**

* * *

**And here we go!**

**We've got the set-ups for our three scenarios this chapter, and these are the scenes that will be focused upon during the Konoha Crush arc. Ino and Haku's stealth mission, Sasuke and Sakura's battle with Gaara, and Naruto and Kakashi's battle with the Hydra at the gate.**

**Gaara comes to some conclusions on his own, having already dealt with a lot of really odd people, but getting some last minute help from Naruto that has him at least realizing he cares somewhat for his siblings. Unfortunately for Sakura and Sasuke, it could not come at a worse time for them.**

**Well, that's life, everybody, get used to it.**

**See you all next week!**


	31. Chapter 31

**Yo.**

**League of Legends is going interestingly. At least the final should be fun?**

**Eh, screw it. I hate rooting for European teams, but I hate the east winning _another_ championship, so I guess go G2.**

**Pretty simple chapter this week. The next two chapters should wrap up the Chuunin Exams.**

* * *

**Chapter 31: About the Time for a Counterattack  
**

* * *

As it turned out, having a second person around to help deal with Gaara's perfect defense certainly removed a bit of that untouchable reputation he'd built for himself.

Every time Sakura was about to land a hit on the boy, forcing the sand to respond, Sasuke would attack from the other direction, dodging into the Jinchuuriki's guard and landing a hit of his own on Gaara's backside, forcing him backwards, setting him off balance, and making a follow-up attack even easier for the two of them.

So, it seemed even weirder to Sakura that despite how well the fight was going, she was feeling more nervous than ever as the two of them continued to wail on their opponent.

_Why do I get the feeling that he could turn this around at any time?_

It was Gaara's eyes, really, that clued her in on why she was afraid. They were not panicked, or scared, nor did they betray pain or exhaustion. They were hard. Focused only on absorbing information. As Sasuke moved in behind him, Gaara's eyes followed, tracking and analyzing as he watched the kick be blocked upon his sand, and even as Sakura stabbed a kunai up into his gut, which the boy blocked with his porcelain-like outer skin, his eyes never left her figure.

_I feel like he's just waiting… _Sakura shivered at the thought. _It doesn't feel like we're winning this. It feels like he's losing on purpose._

No, that wasn't quite right. They were pushing him, that much was for sure. But it didn't seem to be enough. Gaara was perfectly willing to bend.

But it would take more than they were giving right now for him to break.

"Sasuke!" She shouted

Unfortunately, her words shook the boy's concentration, inadvertently causing Sasuke to stumble slightly as he went in for another attack, probably assuming she would follow up and keep up the rhythm they had going.

In an instant, Gaara flipped from defense to offense, springing a trap she'd known was coming, but still hadn't been able to stop. His sand snaked across the bark below them, wrapping around Sasuke's leg and pulling him forward. Her friend was taken a few feet into the air, and then slammed down onto the wood below him, hitting with a sickening crunch. Gaara threw his lifeless body off of the tree they stood inside, and Sakura watched, her feelings nearly muted, as her friend fell silently.

Without thinking, she moved, falling in line with the plummeting boy and catching him, landing hard on another tree, perhaps 20 or 30 feet below where they'd been before.

_I'm lucky my ankles weren't broken. _Sakura thought through a hiss. _Still doesn't feel great, but at least they're intact._

She'd caught the boy, sure, but she'd had to land them as well, and right now, her legs were burning with a fierce pain, to a similar degree to when she'd been stabbed earlier, but in a different way altogether.

That pain before had been sharp. Now, it was a aching, constant pain. It was easier to ignore as she stood up, facing off against the opponent that had landed before her a few seconds ago, but that didn't mean she could afford to.

She probably shouldn't have been standing at all, given that the wound on her stomach was still acting up.

She hadn't wanted to say anything, not and delay their pursuit, but the stitching that had been done on her injury had been shoddy and quick, hastily put together by a Kakashi that seemed slightly out of sorts.

His hands had been shaking, though for the life of her she couldn't imagine why.

As they'd hopped over here, using the tree line as a sort of highway, the stitches had begun to come undone one by one, until at last the wound was bleeding freely, as much as it had been before.

She'd already lost a lot of blood before, and now, the dizziness had returned with a vengeance, making her vision shake, along with her legs, as she tried to put up a threatening front for the boy before her.

"I'll offer you a deal as well." Gaara said simply, perfectly calm as he took a step forward. "I have no objective related to injuring the two of you. If you would allow me to tie you up, I will go to my siblings without harming you, and I will not harm your squad members either."

_That… doesn't seem all that bad. _Sakura thought quietly to herself, trying to ignore the pain in her legs and the spinning of her vision that threatened to topple her entirely. _I could just… just give up._

_That's fine, right?_

But there was something about the whole situation that had her thinking she couldn't. Gaara's entire plan revolved around getting away, getting to somewhere he couldn't be seen by leaf ninja… and then what? What was it he was trying to accomplish by sneaking around?

Perhaps it was foolish, but her instinct told her that if she let the boy before her run off, a hell of a lot of people would pay the price for her weakness.

_But how do I even fight him?_

_"Isn't it obvious?"_

_…?_

_"You've been given power."_

_"Use it."_

A tranquil smile came to rest upon Sakura's face, and as she turned to look at the boy before her, standing still and seeming entirely above this whole situation, she felt a bit of the anger for the boy pass through her.

_Threatening my home… Hurting my friends… Trying to kill Ino…_

_I won't forgive you._

"Sorry." She answered after a few seconds, feeling a dark energy begin to flow through her, originating from a singular point on the back of her neck. "But I can't afford to give up."

Despite their situation, Gaara merely nodded, a blank, nearly emotionless expression settling upon his features as he geared himself up for combat once more.

"I understand." He spoke simply. "I cannot give up either."

There was a moment as she dashed forward where Sakura felt her world briefly slip away. She thought that she might have simply passed out right then and there, too tired and having lost too much blood to push forward. But there was something that kept her on her feet. Maybe it was Sasuke's lifeless body, silently counting on her to protect him behind him. Or maybe it was the thought of the people in the village just beyond them, already dealing with threats from all sides, desperate for aid. Or maybe it was something entirely her own, a will of iron that she'd discovered just now in the heat of battle, that allowed her to keep calm and soldier forward, drawing a kunai and bringing it to bear in front of her.

She just didn't know.

She slid underneath Gaara's sand as it streaked over her, having been aimed directly at her head, and jumped out of the maneuver, coming at her opponent with her legs first and connecting directly with the boy's stomach, sending the both of them spiraling towards the floor. Sakura recovered first, grasping madly for purchase on the bark below her and just barely managing to get to Gaara's prone body before he could push himself up.

She brought her kunai above her head, preparing herself in a scant moment to slam the knife down upon her opponent's back. She knew that the safety of the tens of thousands of citizens of the leaf village came before the life of the boy below her. Sakura, however, couldn't quite shake the image of Kin's fearful expression as she'd threatened the girl's life, as she'd begged and pleaded, and as Sakura, having seen it all, had still nearly brought her blade down upon the girl.

That hesitation, however small, was enough for the strike on Gaara's back to be weaker than it perhaps should've been. The boy cried out in pain, sure, but he was not fatally wounded, and as the sand that had initially missed its target came back around, forcing Sakura away, she watched as the porcelain-like sand that covered his back fell away, revealing a bloody stain that threatened to spill through the thin cloth covering his body.

The boy's sand threatened to overtake her almost immediately upon stopping to breath, and so she was forced to keep going, jumping over the oncoming stream, and winding around a tree to avoid another. Her breaths were coming out in harsh pants, and yet it had only been perhaps 30 seconds since their 'fight' began.

At the very least, her opponent sported an injury of a similar degree to the one she carried. They weren't exactly even, given that her legs still felt like they were on fire, and she was beginning to think she'd sprained something, but she could fight through that.

The problem came in endurance.

She was fairly sure that if it came down to it, having a giant monster in your chest that acted as a battery of sorts meant you outlasted practically anyone in a straight fight. Even with the both of them sporting wounds, if Gaara was anything like Naruto, then Sakura imagined that even now that cut across his backside was zipping itself up, as if a small, invisible sewing needle was pulling it closed.

She had no such benefits. The curse mark, from what she'd seen, amplified her physical capabilities, and gave her an extra pool of chakra to work with in combat, but it didn't heal her wounds, it merely made her forget the pain. Whenever she looked down at her red dress, it was to find the material clinging to her, caked with sweat, and slightly more crucially, with her blood.

She had to wrap this up quickly. She had to carry Sasuke back to the village.

_I can't fall… at least until I can get the two of us some help._

A sharp pain pierced through her curse mark, as if growing out of it, but she ignored it as sand once more threatened to overtake her position. She flipped backwards, landing on a branch some 10 feet away from Gaara and watching the sand to try and find a pattern.

At this point, she had to hope it had some overt weakness she'd simply missed all this time. It was practically the only thing that could bail her, and Sasuke by proxy, out of the situation they'd been trapped in.

And yet, the sand seemed to still as Gaara's eyes widened, nearly bulging out of his head as his right hand touched the side of his head, his teeth clenching together as pain seemed to spread across his visage.

"You…" Gaara whispered quietly, some of his calm veneer falling away as he reached up and grabbed his head in his hands. "Shukaku! Be quiet!"

Her eyes widened at the drop of the name. Did Gaara have the ability to communicate with his tailed beast, even in combat?

When she thought back, Sakura remembered Naruto saying that when his life had nearly been ended by Haku's attack, the nine-tails had approached him and taunted her friend about how he was going to take his body. Did that mean this tailed beast was trying to do something similar?

_I don't think I could handle something like that! _Sakura thought, her thoughts racing as she took a single step towards the boy. _If I could stop it…_

"Gaara, you have to fight it!" She shouted at him, trying to get the boy to heed her words as he grasped his skull madly, as if the pain from it was worse than the wound on his back. "Don't listen to Shu-"

"SHUT UP!" Gaara cried out, his eyes bloodshot as he looked up at her. "All you damned leaf ninja! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"

Inadvertently, Sakura followed the boy's demand, going quiet almost immediately as he rambled on.

"Here I was, forgetting the most basic of things because of you bastards!" The boy shouted out, truly seeming to have lost himself as he swung wildly, his upper body flailing back and forth. "I can't rely on anyone! I can't trust anyone!"

The boy fell to his knees, pounding his hands upon the bark below him and sending splinters of wood flying as they arced into the air. Finally, after nearly thirty straight seconds that had the bottoms of Gaara's fists bleeding, he stilled, though whether or not that was a good thing, Sakura could not yet tell.

"That boy… Naruto… He said he was just like me." The red-head's voice was far calmer now, but it still carried a dangerous edge behind it, as if the veil Gaara had kept over his emotions could not be put back. "How… how come he's so easily able to talk with others, and how come they want to be around him and interact with him? Why don't they hate him!?"

"How did he… how did he escape being a monster?"

There was far too much to unpack about that statement, far too many things that Sakura could analyze and overanalyze, but that didn't mean she had the time to do so. Instead, she pushed straight for the first thing her mind gave her as the pain the curse mark usually muted started flowing back through her form.

"Naruto wasn't always so popular." She stated simply, drawing the Jinchuuriki's attention as she continued speaking. "He used to be loud, and annoying, and obnoxious. He didn't really have any redeeming qualities to speak of, and if I'm being honest with myself… I judged him heavily based only off of that."

Gaara seemed confused, but he didn't speak, even as she gave him a chance to, so she felt she'd better keep going before he decided to try and kill her again.

"But there was something about him that changed when he met Sasuke." Sakura replied simply, looking back over her shoulder to the unconscious form of the boy in question, who seemed to be breathing more evenly now than before. "Maybe it was only how he appeared on the surface, but all of a sudden Naruto's better qualities, that he was a kind, considerate boy, who valued his friends above everything else, began to shine through over his more negative ones."

Gaara was paying rapt attention, and whether or not he saw something he could emulate himself or was simply hearing Sakura's story out to the end, she knew she would have to wait and see.

"If I'm remembering correctly, it was a few weeks after that that Ino and I became friends with the two of them as well, and as the years went on, well, Naruto's antics didn't stop, but he was kept far more in line than he'd been previously. We made sure of that."

"Is that friendship?"

Her eyes widened as she looked up at Gaara, the boy's eyes were filled with wonder as he stared at her, seemingly having come to some grand epiphany.

"Is… is what?"

"You're smiling." Gaara sounded almost excited, which, even in Sakura's admittedly brief interactions with the boy, was something she'd never encountered. "When you think about someone, or talk about someone, and that makes you smile… is that friendship!?"

The boy had practically shouted his final words, as if finally equating his own experiences with the words that he'd been assaulted with constantly by the people he'd met in the Leaf Village.

"I suppose it is." Sakura reasoned, pain from the wound on her stomach flaring up, causing her to double over, and nearly fall flat on her face. "I mean, I don't see why it's any better or worse than any other explanation, so… sure. I guess that could be friendship as well."

Gaara didn't smile like she'd hoped he would, but his expression did lose some of the edge that it'd had before.

"But then… why don't I smile or laugh when I think of my siblings, or about Naruto?" Gaara looked back towards her, seemingly confused. "Why don't I feel anything? It is not as if I hate them… I do not feel like I do towards father towards them, but… but I also can't bring myself to smile for their sakes…"

_This is turning out to be a bit more than I bargained for. _Sakura joked dryly as the pain became too much for her to bear. _But this is definitely better than fighting to the death._

"I can't really answer your question." She remarked, clutching her stomach as she fell backwards, bracing against the tree behind her as she slid down it. "I wish I could, but unfortunately, it's just not that simple. The reason there is no concrete definition of friendship is because everyone experiences it in a different way… Or, well, I think they do, I least."

Gaara gritted his teeth together, looking down at his bleeding and bruised hands as he did. Sand still poured off of them from where he'd broken his makeshift armor, having slammed them into the bark enough to fracture the porcelain-like structure, and she couldn't imagine that it felt good for him to have to the grains falling into his open wounds.

"But then… how do I know what this feeling in my chest means?"

"It's simple."

Both of them turned suddenly, Gaara's sand coming up to form a protective barrier in front of him, but it fell a second later as they saw who was hobbling over towards them.

Sasuke had certainly seen better days, but it seemed at least he could move, so that was a plus.

"What is it you mean?"

"That feeling." Sasuke spoke, walking over to the two of them and sitting down, just close enough to Sakura to protect her in case the boy in front of them decided he was done talking. "That's love."

Both her eyes and Gaara's widened. It wasn't exactly the most original answer, hell, Sakura was fairly sure she'd heard this exact same conversation in some of her mom's crappy romance novels, but that didn't exactly make it any less true. From the look on Gaara's face, however, he seemed to feel a bit differently about it.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"What do you mean, I'm asking why you think I would feel such things." Gaara shook his head, and if he weren't so emotionally stunted, Sakura felt like he might've laughed as well, as if calling them both fools. "I love only myself. That is how I have chosen to live. My siblings may be useful to me, but-"

"Are you not the one who said you felt something for them just a few minutes ago?" Sasuke fired back, causing the boy to halt his speaking. "You said you felt a pain in your chest, did you not? That's your love for your siblings, warring with your duty and your mission."

Gaara recoiled from them both, standing up and gripping his head in his hands as he took several steps backwards, trying desperately to escape either the truth of their words or the pain in his skull.

Perhaps a combination of the two was more accurate.

"Shut up…" Gaara whispered quietly, whispering perhaps to Shukaku, or perhaps to them. "I don't… What do I do?" The boy whispered quietly, looking up at them with his face hidden behind his hands. "I can't abandon my mission. They put their… their trust in me. Or… no, No!" Gaara yelled out suddenly, shaking his head in a crazed way as he kept speaking. "They're just using me!" Gaara shouted, his pupils shaking as he discovered the 'truth'. "Good… that's good! I'll use them back!" He looked back up at them, smiling widely. "I'll just kill the two of you, and then… then everything can go back to how it used to be!"

Gaara let his hands fall to his sides, and Sakura cringed as she saw the right side of his face.

"Back to when everything made sense!"

It was monstrous, as if it had swelled to an almost insane degree. Yet it did not seem to be skin that it was made of. Instead, it was like sand, and yet there were odd markings built into it as well. Ino's words came back to her, about how the monster she'd seen, Shukaku, had had markings on the sand that made up its body.

_Is he gone for good? _Sakura wondered as she steeled herself for combat, allowing the curse mark to once more flow across her upper body. _Or is he still in there?_

"Sakura… what happened?"

She turned to Sasuke, and met the boy's concerned gaze with a small smile.

_Probably about the curse mark, I suppose._

"You passed out, and the wound on my stomach reopened. I didn't have much choice but to rely on the curse marks power."

"No, not that." Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "I'm asking about this."

He reached out behind her neck, and immediately, Sakura couldn't help but think the boy was losing it a little.

_Did he forget what the curse mark looks like?_

A second later he tugged on something that had her whole body move, and her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.

"What are you grabbing!?"

"You mean… you didn't know there was a tree branch sticking out of your curse mark?"

_…Wait, what?_

A sudden dizziness shocked her out of any such thoughts, and she realized instantly that the curse mark must've been suppressing the effects of her blood loss. Her vision swam as her legs gave out, and she fell backwards, barely managing to halt her descent against the tree behind her.

She watched Sasuke's mouth open and close, but she couldn't quite hear him. She could feel the warmth of his hands as they scooped her up, and the wind on her skin as they flew through the air, landing on a nearby branch and barely evading the explosive power of Gaara's new right arm as it broke into the trunk of the tree they'd just been stood upon.

But even those senses were fading, and as her eyes closed, the last thing she could think about was the last words she'd heard Sasuke speak.

_Why… would there be a branch growing out of my curse mark?_

/-/

"Any time now, Naruto!"

"Yeah I'm working on it!"

Summoning was going so-so. The problem was that he and Kakashi sort of needed it to be going swimmingly, given that there was a giant hydra trying to swallow the both of them.

"I'm really trying, I'll have you know!"

"You said you'd be able to do it!"

"Well I lied a bit, OK!?"

"Why!?"

A decent question, easily answered if Naruto were willing to admit that he was a bit frightened that if he did say he might fail, then they wouldn't have had much of a plan in the first place.

That and a bit of a selfish need to show off just how strong he was now.

_Neither of those make me sound like a very good person. _Naruto thought with a grimace. _I guess I'll just not say anything._

"Look, I should be able to manage this, just give me a second!" Naruto shouted out, biting back into the skin on his thumb that had already managed to heal itself, thanks to his panicking making some of the Nine-Tails chakra run through his system. "T-This time for sure!"

"NARUTO!"

He heard the scream and sort of assumed something was about to kill him. He dodged backwards, just barely avoiding the collapsing jaw of one of the hydra's 3 heads. It tore a massive chunk off the building they'd been standing on, and Naruto had to try really hard not to imagine that being him.

It didn't super work, but at least it came with the caveat that it wasn't him, and he was still rather alive.

Still, maybe it was just the rush of almost dying for the eighth time in five minutes, but he was feeling pretty good, physically. He brought his hand up above him, preparing to slam it down onto the roof below him, and felt, just for a second, for the chakra within him. Not his own, even that apparently large pool of chakra had been too small to reliably summon Gamabunta, and if he was going to summon something as large as him, he'd be needing something more.

He reached into his chest, left a silent, almost pleading note with the Nine-Tails, requisitioning as much chakra as the beast could afford to give him, and brought his hand down upon the ground below.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

For the first time in over two weeks, his entire world became white smoke. A half-crazed smile took over his expression, and as the animal below him, whoever they were, rose to their full height, he used his chakra to run up it's back, practically jumping up and down from the excitement.

"Yo!" He shouted out as he reached the toad's head. "What's your name?"

The beast didn't respond, instead, it merely lurched to the side, bringing it's massive shield to bear and slamming it into one of the hydra's charging heads, before jumping upwards (practically scaring the piss out of Naruto as he grabbed on for dear life), and slamming it's weapon down on the offending head, slicing it clean off.

"My apologies for not answering your question sooner." The massive toad spoke out politely. "My name is Gamaken, and I'm afraid I am rather clumsy."

/-/

Ino and Haku were spotted at around the half-way point, and unfortunately for them, it wasn't another scouting party.

"Leaf Ninja! By 5 o'clock!"

They ran as hard as their injuries would let them. This was, unfortunately, not particularly fast. They weren't slow enough to be caught immediately, however, which gave them the time to try and come up with a method of avoiding their pursuers.

The problem, of course, was that the sound ninja's chasing them were Jonin, and they weren't going to be fooled by a simple trick, much less a hiding place or a cheap distraction

On the bright side, it didn't seem like any of the ninja chasing them were that fast, even if they were gaining on them bit by bit, that was to be expected, given that the two of them sported burns along their legs that kept them from truly booking it.

"They're coming." Haku spoke with an almost unnatural calm. "We won't be able to make it to the arena without them catching up. Not at this speed."

As he spoke the words, Haku jumped forward and turned in midair, firing ten or so senbon back into the crowd of ninja chasing them. If the small screams Ino heard were anything to go by, then at least a few hit the mark.

"How many senbon do you have?" Ino asked as the boy caught back up to her, having dashed far faster than he reasonably should have. "Could we hold them off with those?"

"I wasn't exactly prepared for a fight when I went out to enjoy the festivities." Haku spoke with a hint of dry humor in the back of his voice. "I've got maybe twenty of them left, and that's a fairly high estimate."

Ino bit down on a curse that bubbled up through her throat. If the people behind them were to hear, they might stop hesitating as they were now and move in for the kill. At the moment, it seemed their assailants were being cautious, likely unsure of whether or not two kids out in the middle of a warzone wasn't an odd sort of trap, or if the two of them were more experienced or dangerous than they let on.

It could also have been that they didn't see the two of them as much of a threat, and as such were conserving chakra that they could've been using to unload powerful ranged Jutsu into their backsides.

_To be honest, _Ino thought with a mirthless laugh. _I'll take it._

They ran through a particular area that Ino recognized, and she realized that meant they were only a few blocks away from their destination. She had been able to see the arena since they hopped atop the rooftops, but that didn't mean it was particularly easy to gauge distance when all of them looked exactly the same.

Being so close to safe haven, however, naturally meant that their enemies were ready to throw caution to the wind.

"Ah, screw it!" The sound ninja captain shouted out from behind them. "Dale, blow em' to smithereens!"

"Fire Style: Exploding Flame Shot!"

A blazing ball of energy shot straight past both Haku and Ino, passing between them at far too close a distance for comfort, and landed a way's away on the next rooftop.

The building detonated a moment later, sending debris and flame into the sky, and preventing them from continuing forward.

"End of the line, brats!" The ninja who'd thrown the jutsu out, apparently named Dale, shouted. "Fire Style: Exploding Flame Shot!"

This one was aimed for the both of them, the previous having only been to trap them in place. The projectile sailed towards the two of them, and Ino had only enough time to wish that her life could've ended a bit cooler before the Jutsu's impact was interrupted by a massive wall of ice.

"Ice Release: Ice Wall!"

The mass of frozen water shattered almost instantly upon contact with the other jutsu, but it did prevent the explosion from killing the two of them. Ino had expected to be just as easily killed by the shards of flying ice nailing her in the coming moments, but when they did hit her, they immediately melted into water, cresting across her skin harmlessly.

_Was that the flame melting the ice before it hit us, or is that within Haku's realm of control?_

From the way the boy fell to his knees a second later, it seemed like the latter. She couldn't imagine forming ice and then immediately melting it back into water vapor was a particularly easy thing to do, especially for the already exhausted Haku.

"Well alright then." The captain from before walked up to the two of them, smiling arrogantly as he stepped past the remains of Haku's wall, and onto an ever growing puddle growing out from it. "It's been fun, kiddos, but we've got places to be." He leaned down, drawing a kunai and bringing it to bear before him. "Try not to hold it against us."

The kunai flew downwards, but just as it was about to hit Haku's chest, and probably kill him, it stopped.

"Wha – what did you-!?"

The captain looked down, to where ice had already encased over half his body. The innocent pool of water on the ground had frozen over, and was crawling up the man's body, using the water that had exploded off of the ice wall earlier as a means to freeze the ninja in place.

"You damned basta-" The ninja's voice was cut off as his head froze as well, and a second later the sculpture stopped moving. If Ino were to guess, his internal structures had also become too cold to function.

The man before them was dead.

"Captain!" One of the ninjas shouted out, drawing an odd weapon that looked like a cross between a glaive and a whip. "I'll kill you!"

The other two ninja, one of which Ino remembered as being Dale, charged forwards as well, wielding their own unique weapons as well.

Haku's hand came to rest upon her mid-section, in a way that at any other time would've had her blushing and slapping him in the face, but now had her looking towards him, wondering what he wanted.

He gave her only a small smile…

Before he pushed her off the rooftop.

She screamed as she fell, from so many different things. There was, of course, the fear of falling a good 50 feet towards the ground below, but that was perhaps secondary to the frustration she felt at being saved. Haku had given his life, so very casually, to save her own. She looked up towards the roof, hoping beyond all hope that the boy's figure too would manifest itself.

All that appeared from beyond the steel horizon was a massive explosion, a few screams, and then silence.

Ino hit the floor hard, collapsing upon the ground below her in a heap and feeling tears swim through her vision. She wanted to scream out in pain, but when she opened her mouth, nothing came out. Perhaps she was so completely shocked by the situation that she could not even make noise. She could only sit on the floor, a broken, helpless mess of a ninja, and wish that Haku would, somehow, survive his encounter with the ninja above her.

_No! _Her mind shouted out to her, sending strength to her fingers that she'd not known existed to just barely pushed herself up onto her knees. _I won't… I won't be some useless, demure girl!_

_I refuse!_

She pushed herself up once more, onto her legs which cried out in agony. Silently, she prayed they were not broken. After a few seconds, she was able to conclude that they must not have been, because they were still capable of carrying her.

_Good. That means I can go rescue Haku!_

She walked over to the building's entrance, ignoring the massive piles of rubble that gathered around the broken-down doors, and pushed her way inside.

There was no one inside, nor were there any corpses or any signs of blood. For that, Ino was thankful, she wasn't sure she'd have been able to handle seeing the body of a civilian, especially not that of a child.

As she made her way towards the stairs in the back of the room, she found her legs growing numb. She imagined that was not a particularly good sign, all things considered, but couldn't find it within herself to care. If it allowed her to see Haku more easily, dulling the pain so she could focus on climbing the steps, then that was fine.

By the time she reached the second of the building's six floors, her vision was already beginning to distort. As she climbed further, it only got worse, and by the time she made it to the roof, she'd had to practically drag herself up the final flight of stairs.

_I'm here… Haku… _She panted as she reached the door, pushing it open in a daze. _Please… please be alright._

She stepped out onto the roof and immediately fell flat on her face, having used only forward momentum to push the final door open, and having very little control over what happened after that. When she looked up, it was to find the roof a sea of blood. It practically caked the concrete beneath her, and made the whole place smell heavily of iron and decay.

She saw Haku a second later, and the sound that came from within her was nearly inhuman in it's relief.

"HAKU!" She shouted, pushing herself up one last time and landing atop the boy, hugging him tightly as he merely breathed in and out. "You're okay!"

"Yes." The boy spoke simply, smiling only very slightly as he opened his eyes, seeming barely able to keep them open. "I… someone showed up to help me."

He raised his arm, pointing towards the corner of the rooftop, where a man in a black trench coat sat quietly upon the edge, hanging his legs off of it and looking back at them. His face was adorned in an almost terrifying mask, and though her immediate instinct told her it was that of the Anbu, there was another part of her that thought that couldn't have been farther from the truth.

"Who… are you?" Ino asked, at the very least wanting to thank Haku's savior, and trying to ignore the way the mask sent shivers down her spine.

"Who I am matters not." The man in black spoke, rising a second later. "Know that the man to whom you owe your life is Danzo Shimura. If you must give gratitude to someone, then let it be him."

With those words, the ninja jumped from the rooftop, falling out of sight and, assumedly, onto the streets below.

Ino felt her exhaustion get the best of her. She knew she could go on no longer, and that, at the very least, she would need to rest for a while. Her eyes grew heavy, and she fell down next to Haku, bracing herself against the simple outcropping he had leaned against himself.

_Danzo… Shimura? _Her mind wondered as sleep overcame her.

_Who… is that?_

And then her consciousness faded.

**End Chapter 31**

* * *

**Yo.**

**Once more, Gaara's learning and then de-learning in the span of a single conversation. At this point in the story, Shukaku was too present, and Gaara's mental state was far too volatile, for him to really be thinking straight.**

**Naruto brings out the clumsy boii, because I think he's funny and extremely under-utilized in fanfiction.**

**Haku and Ino are rescued by a member of Root, and Danzo's plan to retake the city begins. **

**In other news, I will be taking a quick, 1 week break.**

**I won't lie about the purpose or anything. I'm just getting a bit burnt out from writing this every week. Going to use the time to relax and plan the next upcoming arcs, but, if I may give a quick hint, they will all be focusing much more on Naruto and Sasuke's friendship than this arc did. I apologize for branching off from the point of this story as much as I did these past few chapters, but I swear there was a reason!**

**Anyways, see you in two weeks!**


	32. Chapter 32

**And I have returned!**

**How's everyone doing? Hopefully good. I've been feeling this story a lot more since I took a week off, and ended up with this beast of a chapter, which will close out the Chuunin Exams, and set up the next arc.**

**In other news, Europe disappoints once again in the World Finals. Welcome to the club, EU, we in NA are used to it.**

**Except for the whole world final part. Just the disappointment on its own.**

**Alright, that's all from me, without further ado, I suppose.**

* * *

**Chapter 32: End of the Beginning  
**

* * *

The sound of bark splitting apart filled the air around him as he sprinted through the forests branches, doing his best not to lose altitude, lest he give the beast behind him an easy method of ambush.

Sasuke finished the seals he'd been crafting, turned on a dime as fast as he could, and brought his hand up before his mouth.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

It was, by definition, an attack. Under normal circumstances, he felt he could've relied upon it to finish off his foes, if not outright kill some of them.

These were, of course, not normal circumstances.

He'd used the fireball Jutsu in order to set the trees behind him ablaze. If he did it in a way that made his pursuer lose line of sight, then he could double back around in the ensuing confusion, grab Sakura, and make a get-away as soon as possible.

The villagers could call him a heartless bastard if they wanted, but right now the threat that something _could _happen to the village if he let the monster following him roam free was eclipsed by the threat of Sakura _assuredly_ bleeding to death within the hour.

And an hour was being rather generous.

The wound on her chest hadn't healed, not even remotely. She'd been stabbed through her stomach by the boy in their earlier fight, and unfortunately, in the confusion and chaos of Orochimaru's attack, Sasuke hadn't gotten too good a look at the wound.

He couldn't stop cursing himself for that now.

_Idiot! _His inner thoughts berated him in a rather unhelpful manner. _She was falling behind the whole damn time we were chasing them, and you really didn't put anything together!?_

He turned back around, trying to clear his head of any unhelpful thoughts, and looked around to see if Gaara was following. Other than the quickly growing fires, however, there was no sign of movement among the tree line.

Sasuke let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding, before dashing underneath the flames and around where he predicted Gaara would be. If he was lucky, he could get to Sakura without being spotted and be gone before the boy even knew something was up.

Sasuke should've probably given up and accepted that he wasn't a very lucky person by this point in his life, but he felt the fact that he still held out some small hope was a sign he was doing as well as he could.

A tree some fifty feet off to his left crumbled, though whether or not that was from flames consuming it or Gaara's bulk destroying it, he couldn't quite be sure. It didn't help that the crackling flames kept him from keeping an ear out for any threats around him. It was, of course, a possibility that their friends could lose their matchups as well, and that either of Gaara's siblings could show up to back him up. If they arrived, he wouldn't know it until it was far too late to react.

Unfortunately for Sasuke, all he could do in that realm was hope. His squad mates should've _theoretically _been able to handle their respective fights, but theory was only of any use once there was evidence to back it up. Evidence that Sasuke didn't have.

He ducked underneath a branch, hopped over another, and vaulted himself onto the top of another, wider set of branches, where Sakura's form lay resting against the tree behind her. She didn't look good, her face was paling rapidly by the minute, and her breaths were shallow and ragged.

He swallowed on air, brought her arms across his shoulders, and lifted her onto his back. There was still no sign of Gaara, and that had him more worried than anything. If the boy was behaving how he'd expected him too after giving into his urges, he assumed the forest would be awash with the sounds of exploding bark and flying wood everywhere. Yet there was nary a chirp in the surrounding greenery, except for Sasuke's own flames, which continued to rage off in the distance, steadily consuming the fuel around them.

_Something's off. _Sasuke realized as he scanned the tree line, jumping off onto a branch some ten feet lower to the ground. _We have to go, now._

_If we don't – _

There was a sudden pulling on his right leg that had him lose his footing, nearly tumbling down onto the dirt floor some thirty feet below if he hadn't just barely grabbed the branch as he fell, holding onto Sakura's gradually stilling form with his left arm, curling it around her waist and clinging to her desperately. He looked down, into the eyes of the beast that held his leg, and tried not to flinch as the creature gripped firmer still, smiling madly up at him.

"Found you!" Gaara hissed out.

Sasuke cursed silently, just barely managing to twist his ankle free before the monstrous child below him could put his full weight on it. He shot forward, using the tree he'd just been stood upon as a shield for Gaara's animal-like arm, which rocketed towards his back at an inane speed. When it collided with the solid bark between them, it split the tree with almost no effort, causing the towering structure to come crashing down to the earth, landing a few seconds later with an almighty crash.

Sasuke bit down on his panic, keeping his head on a swivel as he scanned his surroundings, searching desperately for something that could bail the two of them out of their situation.

Nothing in the vicinity screamed safety, and so he pushed forward. He tried to ignore the way his footfalls were followed by far heavier, harsher ones, ones that sounded barely twenty feet away from him, and gaining rather quickly.

He brought his hands together once more, counting on momentum to keep Sakura on his back. He threw his head back, took a deep breath, and then unleashed another great fireball. It struck the trees directly in front of him, and they caught fire immediately. In his right hand, he began to gather the necessary chakra for a Chidori. Upon hearing the telltale chirping of the thousand birds, he unleashed it upon ten or so trees as he ran by them, sending them toppling to the floor, and, hopefully, Gaara with them.

_Let's see him get through that! _Sasuke thought, hoping beyond hope that if that wouldn't stop Gaara, it would at least slow him down.

He heard a roar the like's of which he hoped he'd never hear again, before the sound of splintering wood and raging flames consumed it. He pushed forward, gaining ground on his pursuer.

_Fifty feet… Seventy-five… A hundred…_

_Did I lose him?_

He activated his Sharingan, looking behind him for any signs of movement, and found, some one hundred and fifty feet behind him, that Gaara was still chasing, a look of pure rage set upon his features.

_Of course. _Sasuke remarked with a bitter cynicism. _I'd never get that lucky, would I?_

He turned back to the path in front of him, bobbing and weaving through the complicated network of trees, and trying his best to retrace the steps they'd taken to get here in the first place.

_If I'm lucky, then Shino, Shikamaru, and Kiba should've finished their matches by now… And if I'm not… well, let's not think about that._

If he ran into an ongoing battle with an enraged Gaara on his tail, things were bound to take a turn for the worse.

His Sharingan spotted movement long before a normal person would've been able to, and briefly, a flash of hope registered in the back of his mind.

It was swiftly quelled when he realized who the new arrival actually was.

"Gaara, where – You!" Kankuro shouted, gripping his left arm in as clear a show of pain as Sasuke had ever seen. A quick scan with the Sharingan also told him that the boy was favoring one leg over the other. "Where's Gaara!?"

_Well, you'll certainly find out in a second or two._

A hair-raising roar split the air around them, shaking the leaves on the trees and sending sleeping animals of all kinds scattering into the foliage. Kankuro's eyes went wide, though not with surprise like Sasuke had expected.

They were wide with fear.

Sasuke's own eyes narrowed.

_So, he's seen this form before… or at least knows what it is?_

It wasn't that far of a stretch to think that the boy's siblings had at some point witnessed Gaara's transformation. In fact, it would've been more surprising had they no knowledge of it at all. But the fear in Kankuro's eyes told him that neither of the siblings knew exactly what to do about it.

Sasuke was going to bank on that fear.

"We don't have time to fight. If he catches us like that…"

He left the question open ended. He didn't want to appear as terribly weak as he really was, his entire body ached horribly, and he was carrying another injured comrade on his back. It wouldn't have taken a genius to know how vulnerable he was at that moment, but he still had to try and keep up appearances. At this point, it could very well be the different between life and death.

"Yeah." Kankuro nodded, turning back around, starting off away from Gaara, and waving for him to follow. "I went even with your friend, but… well my injuries were less debilitating. I'm pretty much out of chakra, but I can still fight if need be."

"Do you know where Shino is now?" Sasuke asked, feeling a bit weird that he was now talking normally with the boy before him, as if they hadn't been trying to kill each other half an hour ago.

"Nah, last I saw of him, I'd poisoned him pretty badly. It's a lethal dosage, but I felt another chakra signature enter the area when I was leaving. I'm pretty sure they were taking that kid off to safety."

_Another chakra signature? _Sasuke wondered. _Just who– _

"SHIT, MOVE!"

Sasuke didn't so much as think. Instead, he dodged to the right, letting the massive, monstrous limb streak past him, and watching it tear up the dirt some twenty feet below them as it ripped into the earth. It was a stark reminder of just what would happen if either of them had been in it's way.

With Sakura on his back, he wasn't the most mobile target in the world, but that was where the Sharingan came in handy. He knew where Gaara was aiming long before the boy's hand even shot forward.

They ran for a long way, further and further until Sasuke began to recognize certain landmarks. They were getting close to the village now.

Which meant they were also closing in on the first Genin battle.

They landed on the ground below, Sasuke himself nearly completely spent from dragging Sakura on his back, only to have a giant metal fan immediately pointed at his face.

"Kankuro, why are you walking around with a Leaf Ninja?" Temari of the sand asked simply, looking only minorly injured as she took a step forward, eyes hard. "And where the hell is Gaara?"

"Gaara's gone full crazy!" Kankuro shouted out, looking back towards the tree line and flinching when he saw a distant tree shake. "Shukaku's in his head, I don't think we can bring him back without dad!"

"But… this was the plan, wasn't it?" Temari asked feebly, sounding unsure even to Sasuke, just as he finally noticed the unconscious forms of the two Leaf ninja who'd fought the girl, Shikamaru and Kiba, slumped against a nearby tree. "We just get out of his way and let him-"

"But if he goes in there without being fully formed, then… there's a chance he could be-"

"I get it, Okay!" Temari shouted, her hands trembling. "I know… but this was our mission… we have to…"

_…They really do care for him._

It was a simple, almost obvious conclusion. Of course, the siblings worried about their younger brother, even if he did hold a monster inside of him. That bond they shared, however fragile, was still very real. There was a certain part of Sasuke, the cynical, pragmatic part, that shouted out for him to use this newfound revelation however he could.

It was a good plan, too, even if he didn't want to admit it. Sakura's life was on the line, and that meant shelving his morals ever so slightly, and preying upon the advantage he'd been given.

"Don't you love him!?" Sasuke shouted, trying to sound as indignant as possible, as if he was offended by their words.

They turned to him; eyes wide with shock.

"He'd be killed no matter what if he entered the village." Sasuke gritted his teeth together, a picture-perfect expression of anger. "Are you just going to sacrifice your little brother, all for the sake of the damned mission!?"

The two before him seemed to hesitate, their eyes not meeting his own in some obvious show of guilt.

"I… We-"

A second later the tree line exploded, and Gaara came crashing onto the scene, a manic smile set upon his face that didn't dissipate, even as he looked into the fearful expressions of his siblings.

"What do we do!?" He shouted out towards Temari, trying to catch his breath to make up for the fact that he was dragging practically double his weight around. "Can you take him!?"

"Frankly, I don't think there's anyone who could take on Gaara when he's like this!" Temari called back, bringing her fan up in front of her to take on a barrage of sandy bullets. "The only person who could bring him down when he got like this was our dad, the Kazekage!"

_Well, that's not good._

He'd have to hope the girl was just overhyping her brother, then, because if only a Kage-level ninja had any hopes against a fully unleashed Gaara, then that was a problem.

Because unfortunately, they were fresh out of Kage-level ninja.

"I… I don't want to let him into the village." Kankuro spoke up suddenly, gritting his teeth together, and shouting back over towards Temari. "We have to keep him here! We can… we can try and calm him down!"

Temari still seemed conflicted, or at least, that was what the expression on her face seemed to say. Her eyes were on the boy in front of them, watching him in case he suddenly charged forward, but there was nothing concrete. No resolve.

She seemed lost.

"Temari!" Kankuro shouted, trying to shake the girl out of her funk. "He's our little brother! No matter what happens, that's still the case!"

Whatever hidden meaning there was behind the boy's words seemed to resonate with the fan-user, for her eyes widened minutely, and for the first time, she raised her head, looked back towards Kankuro, and nodded with a small, sad smile.

"Yeah… He is, isn't he?"

_Having this revelation is all well and good, _Sasuke mused cynically. _But we still need to, y'know, stop Gaara!_

"Here, Uh…" Kankuro pointed over towards him, snapping his finger as he tried to remember his name. "Sasuke! Right, Sasuke, give me that girl, there. I'm out of chakra, so I'm pretty useless in a fight, but I can at least keep her safe!"

The logical part of Sasuke's brain concluded that it was a fairly sound strategy. Using their least battle-ready member to carry off their unconscious one was a simple solution to their problem. The more emotional part of Sasuke's brain might as well have immolated itself complaining about thrusting Sakura's life into the hands of a total stranger.

Unfortunately for both it and him, Sakura didn't have a ton of options.

"Right." He spoke simply, trying to ignore the pain in his chest as he thrust the life of one of his closest friends into an enemies hands. He never once looked away from Gaara, who was being kept at bay for the few critical seconds he and Kankuro would need to make the swap by Temari's fan.

"I'll take care of her, you-" The boy cut himself off a second later, evidently realizing that no amount of reassurance was going to convince him. "Good luck. And please… Save Gaara, would you?" Kankuro gave a sad, honest smile, one which seemed terribly odd upon his face, covered in paint and with a hood drawn over his head, evidently to make himself seem intimidating. "He's not perfect, but he's my –our little brother."

At that, Sasuke merely nodded.

"I will."

He turned away from Sakura, feeling as if he were betraying her somehow, and stepped forward. He let the Sharingan spin into place inside his eyes, having not even realized that it had dissipated a few minutes prior. He looked up into Gaara's face, and his eyes widened.

The monstrous form of his right half had now taken over his left side as well. Sasuke could see now how Ino had been unsure of what the beast inside really was, for he was staring right at it, and he didn't feel very close to identifying it.

"A little help!" Temari called out, nearly losing her head as she just barely ducked beneath Gaara's clawed hands.

"Y-yeah!" He shouted back, running in and ducking into Gaara's guard, trying to focus energy into his right hand in order to bring out another Chidori. Kakashi had told him to his face that his limit on that front was likely 3 uses. He'd already used the ability once today, which meant he'd have two uses of it.

"Gaara! Gaara can you hear me!?" Temari called out to her brother's form, bobbing and weaving around his massive paws, and blowing her fan at the barrage of sandy bullets threatening to cut into the both of them. "It's me, Gaara! Please, answer me!"

Her cries fell on deaf ears, and if anything, her shouting only made the beast before them target her more than he'd been before. Sasuke tried to get between them, to draw a bit of the aggression for himself, but it was difficult, especially with Temari actively trying to get Gaara's attention as well.

It took about a minute for Sasuke to fundamentally understand their situation.

_Oh. _He realized without any real fuss. _We're going to lose._

They might've had a chance in an all out death match, but that wasn't the case. Gaara was Temari's brother, which meant she wouldn't allow him to get in close and pierce him through the heart with Chidori, if that would even kill him at all. He'd encountered the regenerative powers of a tailed beast before when Naruto had almost died on that bridge.

_Had died. _He reminded himself. _The Nine-Tails was powerful enough to fully bring Naruto back from the dead._

But he wasn't even going to have the chance to test if Gaara could be killed in the same way, because Temari simply wouldn't let him. Added onto that, her support was worse than it should've been because of the stress of fighting her brother, along with her constantly trying to reach out to him.

As things were, they didn't stand a chance.

Sasuke could definitely see where Temari had been coming from earlier, when she'd said they had needed the Kazekage to get Gaara out of these transformations. It wasn't that you needed a Kage's power to kill the Jinchuuriki, but it was that you needed a Kage's power to overcome the Tailed-Beast's power, and to save the Jinchuuriki inside without killing them as well.

Once more, Sasuke was reminded of just how powerful a Kage was, and of how hard a goal his best friend had set up for himself.

He couldn't dwell on that, though. He needed to do something about their current situation, and fast.

_But what!? _He couldn't help asking himself. _What can I do against a Jinchuuriki who's surrendered himself to his Tailed-Beast!?_

_"What did you do last time?" _Another part of him called back. _"Your eyes, the eyes of the Uchiha Clan…"_

_"Use them."_

_Right… _Sasuke remembered, thinking back to when he'd fought Naruto on that bridge nearly two months ago now. _I… I used Genjutsu back then, right? At least, that's what Zabuza said._

_…Could I use it again?_

A blinding pain echoed from the depths of his skull, bouncing around inside his head and nearly causing him to double over. He stayed standing, just barely as he felt his eyes respond. It wasn't as if they were changing, or evolving in some way, it was more…

Opening.

He trained his eyes on his opponents, waiting for Shukaku to focus on him. He shouted something that didn't matter, merely a distraction, a way to get Gaara to look at him. A second later the monster turned.

It was as if someone were cutting into the back of his skull with a knife. He didn't scream, couldn't, really, but that didn't mean he couldn't feel the pain. The beast's eyes widened, if they could, and a second later it stilled. It was the same way that Naruto's body had, in that it jittered and shook, as if the creature before him had been forced to sleep, and wanted desperately to awaken.

He kept his eyes focused on the target before him, kept him locked in place with his Sharingan, and called out for Temari to move forward. He didn't even know what he'd said, for the focus required for him to keep his Genjutsu active, if that truly was what his eyes were able to do, was far too taxing to manage anything else.

And yet, not a moment later, there was a gigantic hand coming straight for him. Sasuke hadn't even recognized what he was seeing at first, but it was clear as day. Gaara had broken out of his sleep and was now gunning for him with all his might.

_Ah. _Sasuke came to a rather calm realization. _I'm going to die._

Before his life could flash before his eyes, in what would have been a rather depressing highlight reel, the hand before him exploded into bits of sand that flew in all directions, and a new figure, one he hadn't seen before, charged forward, into the Jinchuuriki's guard, and shouted out the name of a Jutsu he'd never heard.

"Rasengan!"

There was a burst of light and chakra, originating from a point inside the palm of the man who'd only just arrived, and Gaara was sent flying back into the tree behind him. Temari shouted his name but made no motion to approach him. As Sasuke began to take in his surroundings once more, he looked behind him and saw that Kiba and Shikamaru had awoken, and were standing beside Kankuro, with Kiba taking some bandages out of his bag and beginning to wrap the wound on Sakura's chest.

_Kiba knows first aid? _His distracted thoughts rambled. _Never pegged him for something like that._

"Sorry I got here so late, but I suppose it's always better late than never, ey?"

Sasuke looked back towards the giant who'd just arrived. He very vaguely recognized the man's appearance, and he felt like he'd probably met him once or twice, more than enough to identify him, but with how frazzled his brain currently was, he felt he could be forgiven, just this once, for not being quite so on top of things.

"Who are you!?" Luckily enough for him, it seemed Temari had the same question, so it seemed he'd get his answer anyways.

"Name's Jiraiya, little missy." The man smirked, turning back towards Gaara with an odd sort of expression on his face. "I'd just finished dealing with the Hydra in the arena, when Kurenai came running up to me, and gosh, she always was a real cutie, it's a shame she and Asuma are-"

"Uhm, sir?" Sasuke spoke up, finding his voice for the first time in a minute or two. "Could you maybe… talk about this later?"

Jiraiya blinked, as if only just realizing what he'd been saying.

"Right, I suppose that's fair." He sighed. "Basically, she asked me to come check on you guys, filled me in on what I'd be dealing with too." The Sage cracked his knuckles as he turned towards Gaara once more. "So… The Sand's Jinchuuriki, huh?"

"P-Please don't hurt him!" Temari shouted suddenly, sounding wholly unlike herself as she begged for Gaara's safety. "He's lost himself to Shukaku, but he – he's my brother! I don't… don't hurt him, please!"

Jiraiya laughed, and all the tension that had been hanging in the air seemed to dissipate. He turned to look at the girl, smiling down at her in a gentle manner.

"Don't worry, I promise we'll save your brother."

Temari seemed to relax at that, letting herself fall backwards, and her fan fall to the side beside her. It took her a second to truly register the man's words and ask the question that was burning on Sasuke's mind as well.

"We?"

Jiraiya smirked, before looking straight up and shouting out:

"Oi, Anko! How long are you planning on hanging out up there!?"

A woman's figure dropped down onto the dirt beside Jiraiya, and she looked annoyedly up at him as she stood.

"Y'know, I was sort of going for a stealthy approach." Anko complained, tilting her head to the side. "I know you've probably never heard the word before, but stealth implies that you don't shout my name at the treetops like you're a damn five-year-old!"

Jiraiya guffawed loudly.

"My bad, my bad. Plan's changed, though, we're not killing the monster." Jiraiya explained. "I'm going to lock his seal; I need you to hold him in place for a moment."

"Alright, sure." Anko spoke up, sighing as she cracked her neck, before turning to the Jinchuuriki they spoke of, looking rather angry. "You're awfully lucky, if I had my way, I'd bury you right here for daring to hurt my student!"

"Alright, on my mark." Jiraiya spoke simply, concentrating as he placed his right hand behind his back, and purple flames swirled into being atop each fingertip. He held another hand up in front of his mouth, forming a rather simple one handed 'Rat' sign. "Go!"

Anko zipped forward, practically blurring out of sight as she did, and brought both of her hands up.

"Striking Shadow Snakes!"

From out of the woman's sleeves came several large, coiled snakes, which shot out towards Gaara and buried their teeth deep into the boy's flesh, or perhaps it was, at this point, only sand. It didn't seem to inflict any pain on the boy, given that he didn't scream or shout in any way, but judging by the way he was struggling, it was holding him in place.

"Thank you, Anko!" Jiraiya called out as he streaked past her, sliding across the ground and, after bringing his right hand out in front of him, slammed it into the boy before him. "Sealing Jutsu: Five Elements Seal!"

This time, Gaara screamed. It wasn't at all human, and if Sasuke was asked to describe it, he would've said it reminded him of the sound of nails going down a thousand different chalk boards. It was horrifying, and he had to commend the two adult ninja's before them for being able to stand directly in the boy's face and not bat an eyelid.

The screech ceased abruptly, and the sand that had covered Gaara's body gradually began to fall. First from his legs and arms, and then, gradually, it fell from his body as well. Last to go was the sand caking his face, forming the hideous visage of a demonic beast, and when it fell, they got their first good look at Gaara's face since he'd spoken to him and Sakura.

He looked exhausted, and incredibly pale. He didn't make a single effort to stand up, instead allowing himself to fall backwards onto the dirt beneath him.

"GAARA!" Kankuro called out, rushing over from where he'd been sitting with the other leaf ninja and kneeling next to his brother, raising him up and leaning him against a nearby tree. "Is… Is he alright? What did you do to him!?"

"He's fine, he's fine." Jiraiya held his hands in the air, proclaiming his surrender. "Sheesh, you guys are so hasty. I said I was going to lock his seal, and I did. He's not in any life-threatening danger or anything, and when we get him back to the leaf, I'll unlock it once we've confirmed he's not a danger."

"Wait…" Temari spoke quietly. "You want us to… go with you to the leaf."

"Well, naturally. You did participate in a mission to try and destroy the village; I can't exactly let that slide."

Temari and Kankuro's eyes both went wide, and they turned to each other with fearful expressions on their faces. It only took a second for the both of them to place their heads upon the ground, prostrating themselves in front of all of them, teeth clenched together as they did.

"Please…" Temari pleaded sincerely. "I know what our village has done to your own is terrible… but we… we're only Genin! We had no choice but to obey this mission. Right now… Right now I just want to get my brother to safety! But if he goes with you…" The girl looked up, a fire in her eyes that hadn't been present before. "If he goes with you, can you honestly tell me they wouldn't experiment on him, or… or use him!"

"Yeah!" Kankuro shouted, raising his own head a second later. "Even in our own village, he's constantly attacked by our father, or used by the other ninja in the village as nothing more than a tool! That would only grow worse if he were to be taken by a village that wasn't his own."

Sasuke didn't speak. He didn't feel like he had a place in this conversation at all, really. It was better for him to listen than to interject.

"That may be true," Anko spoke up, stepping in front of the two of them and crossing her arms. "But can you honestly tell me that if we let you go, and our villages end up going to war over this attack, your brother won't still be used in the war effort against us?"

Neither of the two children below spoke, gritting their teeth together and avoiding making eye contact with Anko at all.

Beside her, however, Jiraiya merely sighed, taking out a small scroll and beginning to jot something down inside of it.

"Therefore, the three of you are coming back with us, end of discu-"

"Alright, fine, you can go."

All eyes turned towards Jiraiya, who offered the scroll to the children before him with a small sigh.

"Give this to your resident Seal expert, that's the formula to undo the lock I just put on his seal. It's technically good to hold back his power a bit, but, well, this seal's a bit _too _good, if you understand me. It ends up keeping his own chakra at bay as well."

Kankuro and Temari nodded dumbly, seemingly just as astounded as everyone else in the little clearing. Sasuke, however, was simply waiting for a certain someone to voice their complaints.

"What the hell are you doing, Jiraiya!?"

_Ah, there she goes._

"Pardon?"

"Why are you letting them go?" Anko asked, quite reasonably as Sasuke saw it. "Did you not just talk about how we couldn't be doing that!?"

"Because they're just kids." Jiraiya spoke simply, as if Anko hadn't dismissed that very same point about thirty seconds ago. "There's no reason to involve them in adult matters."

"Did we not already come up with a large amount of very good reasons!?"

"Go, you three." Jiraiya spoke simply, smiling at them in an overly fond way for a man who'd only met them some five minutes ago. "Remember the kindness you were shown today, and pay it forward, or something."

_That was actually fairly inspirational, until the whole 'or something' part._

Temari and Kankuro still looked dumbstruck, but that didn't stop the hooded boy from taking his brother along his back, pulling him up, and bowing ever so slightly.

"W-we will, sir!"

"Certainly!" Temari said as she bowed as well.

With one final look up at Jiraiya, as if still thinking the man would pull a trick on them in the final hour, they dashed off into the tree line, towards their own village.

"So, do you want to tell me what that was actually about?" Anko spoke annoyedly, her eyes narrowed. "Because if you say, 'they're just kids!' one more time, I'm going to have an aneurysm."

"It's nothing." Jiraiya spoke, though everyone in the clearing could tell at a glance that he was lying. "They just…"

A tiny, absent smile played across the man's face, and for just a moment, he seemed thirty years younger, and yet the lines on his face seemed to deepen, as if he'd aged more in those moments than he had the last decade.

"Reminded me of some kids I used to know."

/-/

"Let's go, Gamaken!" Naruto shouted, channeling chakra into the bottoms of his feet to keep himself tethered to the warriors bumpy back as he pointed his finger towards their opponent. "Finish this!"

"As you say, Master Naruto." The Toad flipped forward, turning multiple times in mid-air (And nearly making Naruto vomit for the second time), before bringing its samasuta down upon the Hydra's body one final time.

The creature let out a bellowing hiss, spraying poison into the air as it tried in vain to hold off their attack, but it was no good. It took only a few moments for the creatures screams to die, and then it followed soon after, expiring upon the ground and exploding in a puff of white smoke.

"Yahoo!" Naruto called, sliding down Gamaken's back and onto the roof where Kakashi and Team Guy held off the remaining sound ninja. "Kakashi Sensei! Did you see me, I got it!"

Kakashi smiled at him, well, Naruto assumed it was a smile, it was more a small crinkling of the man's mask on his face, but his eyes had always been quite easy to read, especially when he had his Sharingan eye exposed as he did now.

"Head in the game, Naruto!" Guy shouted from across the way, about a second before he kicked a sound ninja through a building. "Don't let your victory distract you from the fact that this is still life or death! Show these invaders the power of youth!"

"Uh… Sur-"

"Yes, Guy Sensei!" Lee shouted, doing what may have actually been described as a pirouette before kicking three ninja in their faces, sending them flying backwards. "Neji! Show more enthusiasm! Your youth has only just begun!"

The poor boy in question grimaced heavily, evidently trying not to be associated with the two screaming, bowl-cut adorning, jump-suit wearing ninja that wouldn't stop screaming about the power of youth. Naruto, at the very least, didn't see what was so lame about it. They were obviously quite strong, who cared what they wanted to shout as they beat up their enemies?

"Naruto!"

His eyes widened as he took a step backwards instinctively, at this point simply trusting that any time someone was shouting at him, it was because something or someone was trying to kill him. Twelve shuriken whizzed by him, but they hadn't been fired at him at all. Instead, they were aimed for the body of a charging sound ninja, one who'd gotten close to him through what Naruto could only imagine was an impressive stealth Jutsu.

The shuriken struck with pinpoint accuracy, forcing the man to take them on his arms, lest take a fatal blow. He fell back, covering his retreat with another stealth ability, and disappeared into the flurry of Jutsu and steel.

"Watch it, Naruto!" Tenten berated him as she fell in behind him, covering his back as she drew her scroll out further. "You can't always count on an ally to have your back, you know!"

"Heh, my bad." He responded, keeping his focus on the couple ninja still coming at them. "Still, you'd think they'd have given up by now, since their Hydra's gone."

"They serve Orochimaru, remember? I highly doubt they'd be allowed to retreat and live."

"Ah, good point."

"I'm just remembering this now, but you don't have any long-range Jutsu to speak of, do you?"

"Nope, not a one."

"I suppose that means you should join up with Guy Sensei." Tenten added, smirking slightly as she drew her scoll out further, drawing her hand over another seal, and unleashing it upon a half dozen or so Sound ninja, who cowered away from the onslaught of weapons. "Wouldn't mean much for me to watch your back if all that was going to do was leave you vulnerable."

"Nah, I did my part already." Naruto smiled, feeling a small bit of pride worm its way into his chest. "I'll keep them off you, since you're better at all this… what'd Kakashi Sensei call it?"

"Anti-Infantry." Tenten said through a quiet laugh. "And sure, alright. If you don't mind, then I'm counting on you to have my six!"

Naruto smiled, feeling an odd sense of comradery as he turned around, drew a kunai out, and prepared for any oncoming enemies.

He wouldn't let anyone past him. He wouldn't let anyone harm his friends!

"Will do!"

/-/

Gaara was awake.

For anyone else, such a realization was probably quite a natural occurrence. When you were tired, you simply slept.

That was not how it usually was for Gaara.

Gaara did not sleep. No, it was more accurate to say that he could not sleep. Whenever he did, the Shukaku inside of him would eat away at his mind. It was a gradual process, and all the more terrifying for it.

How long had it been since he'd last slept for a prolonged period of time?

At the very least, it would have to have been since his early childhood, back when neither his family nor he had known what effects the Shukaku would truly have upon his body. Since then, he'd been sleeping for only a few hours, if that, at a time.

Last night, he had chosen not to sleep at all.

He could remember what it felt like to wake up and know, without a shadow of a doubt, that you were somehow different than you'd been before. That Shukaku had tampered with him, however subtly.

But there was none of that now.

He was not sure why, but even when he peered into the depths of his mind, trying to see if the beast was somehow incapacitated, he could not see him. It was if where there had once been a window that he could see through, there was now only a steel wall, hastily built to prevent any and all communication.

He allowed his eyes to flutter open, and then shut them again almost immediately when sunlight threatened to blind him.

_How long… was I…_

"GAARA!"

A shadow fell over him, and he opened his eyes once more. This time, the sunlight was obscured behind his sister's form, and he was able to acclimate to the light more clearly.

"Temari… K-kankuro?" His voice was weak. "Where are we?"

"We're about twenty minutes out from the leaf village." His brother supplied. "Do you need anything?"

_Twenty minutes?_

It felt like he'd been out for a week. To hear that it had only been a few minutes…

_Shukaku, _He called out to the beast inside of him, rather angrily. _What trick is this you are playing?_

There was no response. It was as if the beast inside of him had gone completely silent.

"No." He answered his brother's question, trying to ignore the fact that his head no longer ached. It had been for so long, that it had become… not comforting, but expected. To have it gone was… odd. "I do not need anything."

Gaara looked down at the one carrying him, seeing Kankuro panting heavily as he jumped from branch to branch in front of them.

"Why is Temari not carrying me?" He asked simply. "She seems to be in near perfect shape."

"She volunteered, but I thought that if someone were to pursue us, or attack us, it was better to have one person be ready for combat, rather than have two people who are both exhausted." Kankuro sighed wistfully. "Can't say I'm all that happy about it, but I'm the one who came up with it, so I can't very well complain about it."

They trotted along in silence after that, quietly thinking to themselves as they made the long trek back to the hidden sand village. They'd been given a rendezvous point to head to, but given that it seemed like Orochimaru had been in their father's seat at the arena, it seemed his siblings didn't particularly feel like trusting the sound ninja at that time.

That was fine for Gaara, he never placed his trust in anyone at all.

_"It's simple…" _The voice of Sasuke Uchiha echoed out in his mind. _"That's love."_

_ "I love only myself." _He could hear himself responding. _"That is how I have chosen to live. My siblings may be useful to me, but-"_

He shook his head, choosing not to dwell upon his thoughts. Without Shukaku to interject into his mind, he was constantly berated by aimless musings. Why had they come to the Leaf Village in the first place? Had Orochimaru fooled them all? If the man in their father's place was Orochimaru, then where was the Kazekage? Did his siblings care about him? Did he care about his siblings?

_Shut up! _Gaara screamed, trying to still the feelings that echoed inside his skull. _Everything shut up!_

"Gaara, are you OK?"

He looked up towards Temari, who seemed concerned about him as she reached over and put her hand on his forehead.

"What are you doing?"

Temari gave an almost silent laugh.

"Sorry, I blanked out for a moment. Forgot you don't get fevers."

Gaara tilted his head to the side, confused about Temari's words, and almost missed the fact that a paper bomb had been thrown at the back of his sister's head.

His sand blocked it instinctively, without hesitating. She was within his range of absolute defense, and it made sense that the sand would instinctively act to protect him.

Still, it wouldn't have normally blocked the kunai, but rather simply the explosion. The actual blade had been of no danger to him…

_I wonder why…_

"Kankuro!" Temari looked towards their brother and gave him a curt nod as she allowed herself to fall to the floor below them.

"Right!" Kankuro shouted, falling as well, but taking a few more steps in order for them to create some distance.

Gaara caught sight of their assailant for the first time as Kankuro turned back towards Temari. He was a man in a black trench coat that covered almost all of his body, leaving only his hands exposed. Even they were covered in a simple set of black gloves. His face was adorned with a mask that appeared almost unnatural. It seemed obvious that such a creation was for the purposes of intimidation, but that didn't matter much to Gaara.

What mattered was that he was pointing a weapon at his sister.

"Who are you!?" Temari shouted, taking a step backwards as she drew out her fan. "If you're of the Leaf Village, then know that Jiraiya of the Sannin allowed us to flee of his own accord. If you were to ask him about it, then-"

"He was a fool to allow you to leave." The man spoke simply. "Master Danzo has deemed you a threat to the leaf's security, one that must be dealt with. That is all that matters to me."

The man charged at blinding speed, far beyond that of a Genin or Chuunin. He was easily of Jonin level strength, and judging based off the mask, which greatly resembled that of the Anbu, it certainly made sense.

He came at Temari in the blink of an eye, blitzing through her defense and sending her spiraling backwards. In half a second he was on them as well, and the only thing that held him at bay was Temari's wind, which flowed through the air and cut into the tree just behind where the Anbu had been standing just a moment prior.

_He's… so fast!_

"Hmph." The man spoke, sounding utterly above it all as he went in for another attack.

The next came no less quickly than the first, easily trespassing into his and Kankuro's guards, and only being stopped by his own sand shield, but even then, the man's tanto pierced through far enough to cut his porcelain skin as well.

Luckily, Gaara was able to catch the blade in his sand, forcing the man to either lose it, or his entire arm.

The man let go of the blade, but merely put his hands up in front of him, forming a complex string of seals in the span of a second that would've taken Gaara several.

"See if your perfect defense works against this." The man uttered. "Lightning Release: Earth Flash."

The ground around them became coated in electricity. It coursed along the earth beneath them, snaking it's way around his shield and up his body, sending a jolt up his spine that had his eyes shoot open, bulging out of his head as he let out a scream.

"GAARA!"

He heard his sister scream out his name, saw her run towards them out of the corner of his vision. He reached his own hand out, desperate for her to stop coming towards them. Their opponent was strong, perhaps too strong for the three of them to handle.

Temari swung her fan, forcing the man backwards as he drew his hands together, charging up another Jutsu.

"Kankuro! You take Gaara and get out of here!"

His brother's eyes widened, as did his own.

"Bullshit!" Kankuro shouted. "You want us to leave you behind!?"

Temari turned towards them, and though no words passed by her lips, the gentle smile she gave them was as much a goodbye as any Gaara had seen.

"This was the reason for our formation, right? So that one of us would be ready for combat if someone attacked us… well, I'm in tip-top shape." She turned back towards their opponent, who was either being oddly respectful, or worrying about them having a trap in place. "Leave this to your big sister, yeah?"

There was a gross feeling filling Gaara's chest as he stared at Temari's back. It grew warmer, squirming like a worm dug out of the earth and thrown upon the dirt, writhing in the sun's rays as it slowly expired. And then, suddenly, Kankuro turned, gripping hard onto Gaara's arms and legs, and took off into the forest.

"Kankuro!?" An odd twinge affected his voice, it sounded warbly and unsure, even to him. "What are you doing!?"

"I'm getting you out of here." Kankuro spoke, looking down at the floor as he hopped away back onto the trees. "I – Temari – she…"

The boy stopped speaking, tears beginning to run down his face. The makeup on his face began to run down, creating odd, purple streaks across his cheeks that made him look so much more vulnerable, so much more human than Gaara had seen him in a long, long time.

_How long… how long has it been… since I saw Kankuro cry?_

_Have I ever?_

He pushed off of the boy's back, letting his sand brace him as he landed on the ground. He stood as best he could, riding the cloud of sand back towards where they'd left Temari to face their opponent.

Perhaps it was stupid, but without Shukaku's voice in his head to shout obscenities at him, he found himself more willing to try and figure out what the feeling inside his chest was.

The sand blocked Kankuro's attempts to grab him.

"What the hell are you doing, Gaara!?" His brother shouted at him, tears streaming down his face freely. "You heard her! We're in no position to be fighting, we hav-"

"So, we should simply leave her to die?"

It was blunt, perhaps overly so, but Gaara didn't think so. Kankuro needed to hear the truth, the fact that he was running from, pretending not to hear. If they left her alone to face that Anbu, Temari would die.

And there was an odd part of Gaara that simply would not accept that.

"Grr… FINE!" Kankuro shouted, picking him up again (at Gaara's immense displeasure) and running forward. "But conserve your strength, damnit! We're going to need it if we're planning on beating that guy!"

They burst into the clearing a second or two later, and were immediately greeted by the sight of an exhausted Temari, barely fending off her opponents blows. That was no small feat for their opponent, given that Temari was rather easily above Genin strength, finding herself about half-way between Chuunin and Jonin. To outclass her easily was impressive.

Gaara let his sand do the talking, spreading it out across the arena's floor to track their foes footfalls more easily. He was clearly using a lightning based Jutsu to amplify his speed, and he was far faster than their eyes could reliably track. If the man stepped on any of Gaara's sand, however, he'd know about it.

"Wha – Gaara!?" Temari called out, drawing her fan behind her as she let out a particularly powerful gust. "Why are you here!? I told you both to run!"

"And leave you to die?" Gaara asked, with more feeling in his voice than he'd felt had ever been there. "I refuse."

He turned towards his brother, watching the boy's chest rise and fall in sporadic, panicky beats.

"Kankuro, are you able to fight?"

Kankuro seemed to hesitate for a moment, a moment that none of them really had, and Gaara decided to push on without him, letting his sand carry him forward as he put his hand out in front of him, trying to tie their opponents foot to the floor, and allow one of Temari's Jutsu to hit him.

The masked man seemed to understand this, for he blitzed away, stopping some twenty feet to Gaara's right, and aimed a lightning based Jutsu directly at him.

Gaara allowed the sand below him to fall out, and let gravity do the work of dodging the man's attack. As he hit the ground, he began allowing his sand to crush the dirt beneath them, hoping to gather and create even more silt and gravel to use with his attacks. If he could obtain enough, then he could use his wave of sand to annihilate their foe in one fell sweep.

"Buy me time!" He called towards Temari.

The girl nodded, drawing her fan back out and swinging it downwards, a display that was far more visually pleasing than it was effective in combat. It would do very little damage to whatever she aimed it at, but that was what made it strong. It had a far larger area of effect than her side-way's strike, which bought them distance, and more importantly, the time they needed for Gaara to grind the dirt and stone beneath him to dust.

Which was looking like it'd be a problem, given that all of his sand was in use below the earth, and now there was a man charging towards him at far too fast a speed for him to parry the strike.

Luckily, someone else was on top of it.

"Honestly, Gaara!" His brother spoke, grunting as he forced the Anbu backwards, spinning his poisoned kunai upon his finger. "Where would you be without us, eh?"

_Who knows…? _He felt an odd twinge of emotion. _Certainly worse off._

"Nearly there." Gaara added quietly. "Just a bit longer."

"We'll give you the time you need." Kankuro spoke, drawing a few other kunai out of his pouch and wiring them together with a string of chakra. "But you'd better deliver, you hear me?"

"What he said." Temari gave him a quick smile, before drawing her fan downwards once more, sending vertical slicing winds towards the trees in front of them, along with trying to strike their Jonin opponent.

Said opponent dodged easily, avoiding their strikes with a grace someone of his stature shouldn't have been able to possess. Gaara focused only on his sand, allowing it to quietly eat away at the earth below.

_80 percent of what I need…_

_85 percent…_

"Gaara, watch out!"

He opened his eyes, letting his focus slip for just a second as he leaned backwards, letting the man's blade strike air. In the next second, he allowed the sand below him to flow upwards, sacrificing some of his crushing sand to act as a more defensive wall. That same wall blocked their assailants second strike, gripping down on his hand and squeezing hard down on it.

A second later, lightning exploded out from the man's palm. It was different from the Chidori Sasuke Uchiha had employed during their fight, but it was fundamentally similar in application. It split apart his wall of sand like it was water, allowing the man to free his trapped limb, and attempt to send the now sparking palm through Gaara's chest.

Kankuro's kunai interrupted it. His brother's strike was clean, a direct hit to the ninja's gut while he wasn't looking. The man flinched, but Gaara saw the exchange play out in slow motion. The Anbu grunted, evidently in pain, before, with a steeling of his form, he pushed forward with his lightning enhanced palm anyways.

_He's labeled me as the biggest threat. _Gaara realized, eyes widening as the danger he was in became real. _I… I might…_

"No you don't!"

Temari's wind shot across their makeshift arena, carving it's way into the man's flesh as it went. It didn't sever anything, but it did leave a few deep gashes running down his outstretched arm, along with an even more serious wound on his side, mirroring the one he'd received from Kankuro on his other side.

And yet even so, the ninja pushed forward.

"I will not… Lose to you!" The Ninja shouted, inching himself forward as the lightning chakra in his hand became unstably powerful. "I will destroy you! For Master Danzo!"

_You won't._

It was a simple declaration, born of desperation, fear, and an odd mixture of hesitation and… dare he say it…

_Maybe… Love?_

Sand wormed it's way up the man's leg, traveling quickly and covering his torso, his shoulders, and his head. When only the man's mask was left exposed, Gaara brought his hand out, just barely guarding against the enemy ninja's final strike as the man was absorbed into his coffin.

"Sand Burial!"

The odd mixture of sand, dirt, and gravel constricted suddenly, pushing down on the man inside with more than enough force to crush him. There was a final, single twitch, as the man finally died, and then he was silent. The sand pushed forward even more, and the man's bones were crushed into even more dust, fueling his sand as he allowed the blood and other particulates to flow into the soil beneath.

For just a moment in their tiny clearing, there was complete and utter silence, interrupted by his sister's harsh breaths.

"We…" Temari spoke as she fell backwards, laughing as she leaned against a nearby tree. "We actually won."

"Holy shit." Kankuro muttered as he fell flat on his back, panting heavily and gripping his heart with one hand. "Alright, that's it. I quit being a ninja. I don't feel like doing that ever again."

There was an odd lightness about him that he hadn't felt for a long, long time. It ascended through him, originating in his stomach, flowing up through his esophagus, into his throat, and finally, it escaped his mouth as an odd, almost strangled laugh.

"Wha-" Kankuro seemed stunned, sitting up, and wincing almost immediately upon doing so. "Gaara, did you just…"

There was something oddly amusing about the way they stared at him, the way their eyes carried such benign hope, as if they'd secretly always longed for something like this, and now, having received it, could only feel as if the gift was too good to be true. He found another laugh escaping him before he could silence himself, and then another as the two smiled between one another, their mouths still agape in surprise.

It took him nearly a full minute to calm down, and when he did, there were tears threatening to stream down his face. There was no ache in his skull that bothered him, no infernal voice trying to coax him into anything. There was only his siblings in front of him, and the vast green of the Leaf's forests surrounding them.

_Without Shukaku… I feel strangely… liberated._

It wasn't as if he could blame everything on the oversized tanuki, after all, it had merely offered suggestion, merely altered his mental state a bit. It had not been the arbitrator of his decisions, and so he could not blame it for the blood on his hands.

And yet he did not feel any need to place blame at the moment. Perhaps later, given time, he would feel some of what it was people said was guilt. He had not felt such an emotion since he'd discovered Yashamaru's face beneath his masked assailants' face all those years ago, instead choosing to seal away his heart, in an effort to protect it. But now…

"Temari… Kankuro…"

They looked towards him, eyes unsure, as if now might be the time where he would pull back the veil and reveal this to all be one giant trick. He would do no such thing, however. They were his siblings. They had fought to protect him, had been willing to die for him, and…

And he could finally understand the significance of that.

"Thank you."

/-/

The Jonin Council was, for perhaps the first time since their founding, completely silent.

There had been an emergency meeting called immediately following the ejection of the sound and sand villages' invading forces, and the chaos should've, under normal circumstances, at least forced the Jonin council to speak to one another.

As things were, however, there was actually an overload of information. There were too many problems, too many issues to solve.

The main issue was, of course, that the Third Hokage was dead.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had been found deceased atop the Kage box, inside a forest of dense trees, and floating in a newly formed lake atop the structure as well. It went to show how extreme the battle must've been, that if the barrier surrounding the building had been taken away, such a fight might've covered the entire stadium in diameter.

Still, Shikaku Nara had more pressing matters than worrying about fallacy. Right now, he needed to be one of the primary voices for this council, the one that spoke up when something needed to be said, trusted above all others to make a rational decision when no one else could.

And yet, even he found himself wanting to put off the serious discussion just a moment longer, at least for the sake of one of his closest friends.

"How is Ino?" He turned towards Inoichi, the man sat beside him, keeping his voice at a low whisper to avoid anyone else hearing in. Not that such an act would've stopped anyone in the room if they truly wanted to hear, but he liked to think all of them were kind enough to respect their privacy. "I'd heard she was hospitalized… is her condition stable?"

His friend looked up towards him, his eyes heavy with bags. He'd clearly been losing sleep in the last day or two since the attack, and judging by how tightly the skin on his face clung to his bones as well, he hadn't been hydrating enough either.

"Multiple fractures in both of her legs. Apparently, she landed wrong on both of them, and then had the nerve to get up and walk a few flights of stairs." The way he'd said it, Inoichi sounded both annoyed, and terribly proud of his daughter. "Apparently, she did it in order to try and save some… boy."

Shikaku caught a glimpse of hesitation on the man's face and, deciding that it was probably the best thing to distract him with, pounced upon it.

"Oh? _Some _boy?"

"Yes, well, apparently, he's the one who got her out of our flower shop, and back to the relative safety of the inner sections of the village." Inoichi's eyes narrowed. "She told me as such when she woke up, at least."

"And have you spoken to the savior in question?" He teased. "Was he the total bad boy type like that Uchiha brat?"

"Could not be further from the truth, actually." Inoichi sighed, setting his forehead on the table in an act thoroughly unlike him. "Totally mature, completely respectful. Handsome, well, maybe more beautiful is the word, and he's clearly infatuated with Ino. I can tell she knows as much as well. Speaking in a completely objective way, I must admit the way he fawns over her makes the father in me feel much more relaxed than I normally would."

"Am I sensing a 'but'?"

Inoichi sighed, a low, long sound that had everyone on the council looking over towards him.

"He's Zabuza Momochi's kid." The man let out with a horrid groan. "Why does there always have to be a catch, Shikaku!?"

"Hey, don't ask me." He grinned, leaning forward on his elbow, and holding his head up with his hand. "My kid's not the type to fall for someone dangerous. He's smarter than me, he'll grow up and marry a nice, demure girl. Someone quiet, who won't walk all over him."

"Somehow I feel like that won't be the case, but whatever." Inoichi sighed, before turning back around and looking at him with wide eyes. "Speaking of you son, shouldn't I be the one asking you questions, He's in the hospital too, is he not!?"

"Meh, just for minor chakra deficiencies," Shikaku waved off his friend's doubts. "Honestly, I'm more worried about those two from Team 7. The Uchiha suffered some pretty serious chakra loss, but it's pinky who's the real conundrum."

"Oh, why's that?"

"You… haven't heard?"

Inoichi shot him an odd look, clearly out of the loop.

"No, I haven't. Mind filling me in?"

Inoichi looked around, counting names and faces from his head, checking to make sure that everyone within the room was above the clearance level for this kind of information. Upon confirming it, he leaned in slightly, still a bit nervous that something might be amiss.

"Apparently, she accidentally used the Wood Style."

His friend's eyes went wide as he leaned back in his chair, shooting him an expression filled with disbelief.

"In combat!?" The man whispered aggressively.

"No, nothing like that, honestly, I'm fairly sure this is all just being overblown." Shikaku sighed, trying to think of the best way to explain the girl's condition. "Ok, so, you heard about the kid who got marked by Orochimaru about a month back, right?"

"Yeah, she had a cursed seal like Mitarashi's, right?"

"The same, yeah." He took a breath as he continued. "Apparently, that mark contains all kinds of different stuff. It's basis is that of an unknown clan's cells, but there are plenty of other things about it that are pretty damn weird. Along with all of that, though, stashed away along with everything else, were some of Hashirama Senju's cells."

Inoichi's eyes widened, evidently seeing now where this was going.

"You're saying, then…"

"When the girl exhausted her chakra in her fight, she relied upon the curse mark's power to push her through. As she exerted herself further and further, however, she found herself digging deeper and deeper into the mark's chakra pool. From what I hear, she was wounded pretty damn bad, too. From what the medics were able to gather while doing a quick inspection of the seal, her body was basically searching for any way to keep her alive, siphoning the last dregs of her chakra to a whole lot of different places."

"And where it ended up was where Hashirama Senju's cells were stored?"

"It certainly wasn't a lot of chakra, to be sure." Shikaku reached over to the front of the table, where a few folders that covered today's discussions lay strewn about. Taking the folder covering that particular discussion, he took out a single picture, and slid it over for Inoichi to inspect. "As you can see, it was nothing more than a twig that the girl was able to create, and it originated from the seal on her neck, but it's the fact that she was able to do anything at all that has people going nuts over it."

"Yeah, I can certainly see why." Inoichi commented quietly as he rifled through the other documents inside the folder. "She's the second wood user since Hashirama Senju, along with that Tenzo brat from Root. Hell, even he was basically a lab experiment, right?"

"Yeah, we're pretty sure that has to do with the girl's main chakra natures. From what we've seen, they're earth and water, same as Tenzo's, and same as the First Hokage's." Shikaku shrugged. "No one knows for sure if it would've worked had she completely different types of chakra, of course. No one's used it since Lord First that hasn't had to be genetically engineered for it, after all."

"If people thought they could get the power of Hashirama Senju, only through the injection of a couple cells…"

"Yeah, which is why, for now, at least, this is being swept under the rug." Shikaku sat up straight, realizing that some people at the front of the table had finally begun speaking. "I think they're going to ask that Sakura girl if they can run a few tests on her curse mark, see if they can't reverse engineer it."

"I thought they already tried that with Mitarashi?"

"Of course, they tried it, but be honest, there was hardly any funding in the project to begin with." He admitted, feeling a bit of shame for the people of his village pour into him. "After all, all they got out of breaking down Orochimaru's curse mark back then was potentially saving one young shinobi, and the chance to understand a minor power-boosting seal. They tried for a month, then gave up and left." He sighed as the cynic inside him took over. "Somehow, I think they'll be a bit keener this time, suddenly notice some details that were missed the first time around."

His friend gave a quiet chuckle, devoid of any mirth.

"Sounds like them, yeah."

The door at the back of the room opened, and the chamber fell silent as they turned to see who'd entered.

The loud cracking of a wooden cane onto tile echoed through the small room. It repeated itself at an almost perfect rhythm, like the metronome inside of a grandfather clock. Eventually, as the figure behind the noise took his seat on the right side of the table, pointedly leaving the Hokage's chair empty, the room was once more returned to the depths of silence.

As if on cue, the two elders that flanked the Hokage's seat stood. Homura and Koharu, along with their old teammate Danzo, seemed to be working in tandem. At least, that was how it seemed to Shikaku; whose eyebrows drew down into a distrustful glare.

"Thank you all for being here under such short notice." Koharu began, sounding far more polite than she would have normally. "We understand many of you have injured family, friends and loved ones. The fact that you are here today at all shows your duty and commitment to the safety of Konoha."

_We get it, Old timer. _Shikaku thought with a grimace. _Stop laying on the flattery so we can get to the meat of this whole thing._

"We will begin today's talks with the most important discussion first." Homura spoke up this time, taking a single step forward. "We think it is wise to decide on a Fifth Hokage immediately."

No one in the room was particularly surprised about the content of the message, but the way it was said had some heads turning. Mostly, it was those who had been on the council long enough to have had to deal with the two elders of the leaf village the longest.

Staunchly conservative, often overbearing, and careful to a fault. The advisors to the Hokage were anything but quick to act. For them to decide to elect a Hokage immediately…

A chill shot up Shikaku's spine, one which had, in his many years of service as the Jonin Commander of the Leaf Village, never once heralded good news.

"And am I correct in saying," He spoke up, choosing to stand in what he hoped would be taken as a show of power. "That the two of you already have someone in mind?"

Instead of denying such an accusation, as another might've, Homura and Koharu simply turned to their left, where another man, with the help of his cane, stood quietly, eyeing those in the room with a proud stare that dared anyone to object.

"I believe I am most fitting for the position." The man spoke as if such a thing were the most obvious realization in the world to come to. "Not only do I have the most experience in times of warfare, but I was also Hiruzen's most trusted advisor during his long tenure as the Hokage. Along with that, my organization proved vital in the effort to recapture the leaf village, oftentimes spearheading efforts to reclaim pieces of territory."

At the very least, Shikaku felt it difficult to argue with any of the man's points head-on. All of what he'd said was, at least on the surface, completely true. But there was something about this whole scenario that irked him.

As if the whole attack had worked out just a bit too perfectly for the man standing before them.

"You're forgetting one thing, Lord Danzo." Shikaku voiced up, trying to keep the conversation going long enough for him to pinpoint exactly what was wrong. "The title of Hokage is given to the strongest ninja in the village. Would that title not, then, automatically be gifted to Lord Jiraiya of the Sannin?"

Danzo turned to him, his exposed eye betraying nothing of his inner thoughts.

"Sure, your accomplishments do speak for themselves, but so do those of Jiraiya. After all, he was in the arena, and hundreds, if not thousands of people were saved by his arrival, and subsequent summoning of that massive toad. I'm sure that in terms of popularity inside of the village, he ranks higher, does he not? I would argue that in turbulent times, one must look towards someone who can inspire and entice the people, rather than one who would show his prowess on the battlefield."

Danzo nodded at that, as if conceding that it was, at least, a good point. A second later, however, he let out a breath that, if one were willing to bend hard enough, could've perhaps been construed as a laugh.

"And you think this… 'hero of the people'… is Jiraiya of the Sannin?" Danzo spoke without emotion, every sentence calculated. "Ridiculous. The man is a playboy, far too carefree to deal with the day to day running's of a Shinobi Village. Just this year, he published another book in a long series of erotic adult literature novels. He is clearly unsuited for the duties that being Hokage requires."

_I shudder to think of what the Root member tasked with investigating that particular morsel must've gone through._

Unfortunately, despite his jokes, Shikaku couldn't exactly come up with a counterpoint to the man's speech. He'd only really brought Jiraiya up to buy time, even he could see the man was probably not Hokage material, at least if he was going to keep up his womanizing ways.

"It would be different if, say, Tsunade were here. She, at least, can stick to the duties that is required of the Hokage, even if she is a heavy gambler. Such qualities could, arguably, still be useful to the leader of a nation, someone who must gamble the lives of ninja on the battlefield every day."

Danzo cleared his throat, now addressing the entire room.

"But she is not here, and as such, I am the most capable candidate left. I would ask that those here see reason on this matter, or come to this council with a superior candidate."

A couple of names flashed through Shikaku's heads, but he was able to bat down each of them without truly needing to think too hard.

_Kakashi… no, too useful for active duty, and in charge of a rather important team of Genin. Tsume Inuzuka… Too much of an oddball. The duty's there, but the conduct isn't. Hiashi Hyuga? Too busy leading his own clan, and he's kind of an asshole to begin with…_

_Me?_

He snickered quietly, despite the atmosphere. He could see the appeal of being Hokage, but at the same time, he knew he wasn't exactly cut out for it. An advisor position, sure, but a tactician was best kept in reserve, not advertised to the world.

"Then, in that case, we would ask you to vote, members of the Jonin Council." Koharu spoke, turning to face Danzo with a small, wry smile resting upon her face. "Those in favor of Danzo Shimura's emergency promotion to the seat of Interim Hokage, raise your hands."

Shikaku wasn't surprised when nearly every hand in the room went up. Nor was there any real feeling of panic or defeat. Declaring Danzo the interim Fifth Hokage truly was the smartest move they could make. In a Shogi match, it was a move he would've made 99 times out of a 100.

But there was a single time, just one tiny piece of him, that the decision just didn't sit right with. Maybe it was the suspicious part of him speaking, one that couldn't be trusted as much as the rest, but Shikaku felt he knew what part of him was trying to voice its opinion.

It was his intuition.

And right now, it was screaming at him that something about the man before them was incredibly off.

"Very well then, May we all rise and bow before Danzo Shimura…"

_I just pray that I'm wrong._

"The Fifth Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves."

**End Chapter 32**

* * *

**Hey hey hey!**

**A super-extra-long chapter for you all, since I took a week off last week. With this, the Chuunin Exams are over, and we head into the next arc.**

**Things are'a changin', that much is certain. **

**Anyways, see you all next week!**


	33. Chapter 33

**Alright.**

**Welp, it's another chapter of this story.**

**Without further ado, yadda yadda**

* * *

**Chapter 33: Trapped and Departing**

* * *

Sakura wasn't sure when she regained consciousness, but the lack of and bright lights when she opened her eyes had her immediately wondering where she was.

She examined her surroundings without any real feeling. The room she was inside was a simple, if not well equipped medical station, perhaps a bit on the small side. There were bottles of all different kinds on the shelf across from her, and a sink at the back of the room that looked like it didn't see much use. It was also, somewhat unnervingly, poorly lit, and Sakura had to strain her eyes just to see the door at the far end of the room, and to notice the fact that it was quite locked.

A spike of panic arose in her chest, but she fought it back as she tried to sling herself alongside her bed's edge to go investigate.

This attempt to get up was met with a swift and painful cry from her entire being.

_Oh, ok, my bad. _Sakura told her own body as she laid back down. _No getting up, got it._

She'd briefly forgotten just how bad things had gotten in the forest, she hadn't just lost her match against Gaara, but she'd been bleeding out for what she presumed must've been at least a half hour before she could've been rescued.

_I guess it makes sense that I'm not in the best shape then._

Still, the room before her was one she'd never seen before, despite visiting Sasuke and Naruto in the hospital more than a few times. She thought she'd have at least known where in the hospital she was, but something about… everything just seemed to rub her the wrong way.

She let a bit of her chakra out, just to try and get a read on if there was anyone nearby or not, and her eyes widened with a small shock as the walls of the room blocked her from reaching outside.

_Is this a specially designed room or something? _Sakura thought as her panic continued to rise. _Just what's going on…?_

_Where the hell am I!?_

As if answering her, the door at the far side of the room let out a small noise. It sounded almost like the release of a sealing Jutsu, ones she'd heard a few times as she'd absorbed all she could from Anko's teachings. A second later, someone pushed the door open, and she got her first look at just who was keeping her here.

"Good morning, Miss Haruno." A woman with a blank, almost unfeeling expression stepped inside, wearing a simple, white lab coat, and with a clipboard in her left hand. "How are you feeling?"

"Uhm… excuse me?" She spoke up, pushing herself up with her hands and leaning back against the wall behind her. "Where exactly am I?"

The woman across from her looked up from her clipboard. Sakura had at first thought she was annoyed at having been ignored, but it appeared that the woman's face just kind of looked like that naturally.

"That's not important right now." The doctor replied. "How are you feeling?"

Sakura squinted in annoyance but decided to just answer the question.

"Kind of terrible, honestly. My stomach still hurts from where I got stabbed, and I still feel a bit woozy… is that because of the blood loss?"

"Indeed, it is." The doctor seemingly glossed over the rest of what she'd said, not even bothering to write it down in her notes. "How about the back of your neck, your curse mark, how does that feel?"

_…I'm getting some not so good vibes from this lady._

"Decent enough. My neck hurts just as much as the rest of me, but it's not the burning kind of pain I get from the curse mark, just the dull ache of being knocked around a lot, I guess.

The woman did write that down, though Sakura wasn't exactly sure what part of that would be useful, given that it was basically a continuation of what she'd just said.

Already, Sakura had a pretty clear picture of what was going on.

_They're after information on my curse mark, obviously. _She concluded. _But why? They already did a ton of tests on it a few weeks back, and they've had Anko around for like a decade, why would they need to do research now?_

_Is it because Orochimaru attacked the village? _She wondered. _Do they think they can get some information about him out of my curse mark?_

Sakura didn't really see how they thought that, given that they'd already tried and failed, but she felt it was best to stay quiet and let the lady in front of her deal with that.

"Alright, and, before your accidental usage of it in the forest, were you aware that the curse mark allowed you to use the Wood Style?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

The woman looked up, face completely serious as she spoke again.

"Were you aware that your curse mark gave you access to the first Hokage's hidden Jutsu, the Wood Style?"

Her eyes must've given her away, because a second later, the doctor merely sighed, before jotting something down on her notepad and looking back up.

"I assume then that you had no idea."

"…Yeah… yeah I had no idea."

She couldn't quite help but be shocked. _She _had been able to use the First Hokage's lost art of the Wood Style!? Of all the people who could've rediscovered it, it wasn't the man's brother, himself a Hokage, or one of his descendants, but her. Just Sakura Haruno, a little girl from the Leaf Village who had no idea what the hell she was doing.

"Uhm, if you don't mind me asking, miss, just how did I use the Wood Style in the first place?"

"Ah, right." The woman brought something out of her back pocket. "Here, take a look at this."

Upon first inspection, Sakura couldn't help but find the twig inside of the plastic bag in front of her a bit underwhelming. It wasn't at all like the first Hokage's forests that he could conjure at will, or his massive flowers that could blossom unto the battlefield, causing all near them to put down their weapons in surrender.

It was a twig, and a skinny one at that.

"Not… very impressive, is it?"

"On the contrary, Miss Haruno, it is one of the most impressive shows of Jutsu this world has seen in more than half a century."

She looked up, a bit shocked and embarrassed that the woman would say such a thing.

"It may be due in part to the curse mark on your neck," The woman smiled reassuringly, though the expression seemed somehow muted. "But it was undoubtedly due to your own skill as well. You can and should feel very proud of what you've accomplished."

Without really meaning to, Sakura puffed up her chest. Perhaps it was a character flaw, but she'd always relished being complimented, being told she'd done a good job, told she did something impressive. She had a feeling it had to do with being bullied for most of her school life, and through being far worse in combat than Naruto and Sasuke had always been. She'd grown so used to standing by and hearing about their accomplishments, that getting told she'd done well, completely separate from them, always gave her a skip in her step.

"Now, if you wouldn't mind, you should have regained enough plasma in the last three days for me to be able to take a small blood sample." The woman drew a needle out of her coat pocket, and Sakura briefly flinched away from it. "It won't hurt, I promise."

"D-define small." Sakura couldn't help but ask, feeling a bit nervous that proper medical procedures were perhaps not being followed. "Because I'm fairly sure you're not supposed to take anything out after I nearly died of blood loss."

"I mean a few milliliters, nothing that could put you in danger."

She sighed in obvious relief, eliciting a small laugh from the woman in front of her. The doctor stepped forward, placing her knee onto Sakura's bed as she propped herself up, reached behind Sakura's neck, and prepared the area with a small wipe.

It took only a second for Sakura to realize something was wrong.

The needle already had something in it.

"Uhm, ma'am?" Sakura spoke as she scooted slightly to the left, trying to get out of the woman's pin. "What exactly is it you're using that needle for?"

"Well, I just said I'd be taking your-"

"Why is there already a liquid inside the needle, then, ma'am."

In an instant, the woman's calming smile was gone. In its place stood a blank expression, like that of complete boredom. The woman reached out with her left hand at blinding speeds, grabbing Sakura's wrist, and gripping far harder than was comfortable.

"We wanted to make sure you wouldn't be under any duress, so we were going to administer a small anesthetic to the area first."

_Something's wrong._

"If you would please sit still for me."

_Where the hell am I!?_

"I promise this'll be over quickly."

_I'm scared… _Sakura realized silently, backing away from the woman until her back hit the wall behind her. _What is this… who are these people!?_

The doctor gripped her wrist, and pushed forward once more, drawing the needle out and preparing to stab it into the back of Sakura's neck.

She tried with all her might to resist, but her strength hadn't yet returned. She was still weak from the blood loss she'd already endured, not to mention the multiple aches and pains all over her body. Even when she reached for her curse mark in a desperate, final attempt to hold the woman off, she found the thing sluggish and slow to respond.

_Help… Someone please…_

"Be still, girl." The woman spoke as she leaned in. "This'll all be over soon."

"Help me!" Sakura shouted.

The door at the back of the room exploded inwards a second later, and in jumped another woman, though this one was dressed entirely differently from the doctor in front of her. She wore a cream colored trench-coat, had her hair drawn up behind her, and seemed to think fish-nets constituted an actual outfit. Where there was usually a smile, or an overconfident smirk, now there was only a look of quiet fury.

"Might I ask what exactly you're doing to my student?" Anko Mitarashi asked as she stepped into the room, and Sakura watched as a few snakes began to flow out of her left sleeve. "Because, unless I'm mistaken, she doesn't seem to be enjoying this very much at all."

The doctor stood up, letting go of Sakura's hand as she took a battle stance.

"How did you-"

"Find this place?" Anko finished the woman's sentence, taking a step forward with a scowl. "I've worked with you assholes plenty of times before. I followed one of you here on a whim a few years back. Turns out you can't keep a group of over 200 people completely secret."

The other woman stepped backwards, pressing a button on the side of a shelf nearby, in what Sakura assumed was a way to call for aid.

"Now, I don't know about you, Sakura, but I'm feeling mighty tired of this place already." Her mentor looked over towards her, sending her a small grin that had her immediately feeling better. "Shall we head on out, maybe get a bite to eat on the way back?"

_That…_

She laughed as relief flooded through her, nearly falling to the floor as the shock of the situation dissipated inside of her.

_Sounds wonderful._

"Yeah, I'd love to."

"Good, then let's-"

"You can't leave!" The doctor spoke as she stepped forward once more, face set like a stone statue. "If you do, then we won't be able to extract the secrets of Orochimaru's curse mark, and we won't be able to determine just how you utilized the wood style! Just think, all you'd need to do is submit to a few experiments, and we'd be able to have a serious weapon to defend the Leaf Village!" The woman took another step forward, into Anko's effective range. "Think this through, the two of you-"

A blow to the back of the woman's neck had her crumpling into the stone below, the needle breaking open and spilling its contents upon the ground.

"Ready, Sakura?" Anko asked quietly.

"Y-yeah." She responded, looking down to the woman on the floor below her. "Uhm… is she going to be alright?"

"She's one of Root's top researches, and if you're the top of anything in Root, then you're a tough son of a bitch." Anko smiled reassuringly. "Trust me, she'll be just fine."

Sakura nodded, before allowing Anko to take her hand and lead her out into the hall where she'd burst in from.

Sakura's eyes widened at what she saw.

Where she'd expected to see a single hallway, she instead entered into a massive compound. There were four central paths that hung over what seemed at a glance to be an endless void below. When Sakura gazed over the edge, she saw that there were even more hallways, connecting different rooms that seemed to extend forever and ever below, snaking through the darkness like tiny beams of light.

"What is this place?" Sakura turned back to her teacher as the two took a left-hand turn. "I mean, you said it's Root, but what's Root?"

"Complicated explanation, if I'm being honest." Anko stepped forward, not even bothering to check around the corner as she led them forward. "They're technically a nonexistent group, they were dissolved by the Third Hokage… gods, forever ago now. It was right after the Uchiha Massacre."

A chill shot up Sakura's spine.

"Why did Lord Third dissolve them?"

"No one really knows." Anko shrugged her shoulders with an apologetic look on her face. "And yeah, I know that's probably the least satisfying answer in history, but it's all I've got."

"Anyways, ever since then, they've been operating in secret, waiting for an opportunity to… well, not step back into the limelight, given that they were never really in it at all, but I guess no longer have to pretend they don't exist."

Sakura nodded, at the very least understanding what her mentor was saying.

"By the way, Sensei, why aren't we… sneaking around?" She asked nervously, looking around her and just waiting for the inevitable ambush. "Shouldn't we be being a bit quieter or something."

"Well, I did sneak in, but I figured after that woman pressed her little help switch, there wasn't much we could do. I reckon if we're fast, we'll at least be half-way out of here by the time we get caught, get me?"

"Er… yeah, I guess."

"Anyways, when they find us, let me do the talking." Anko turned back around and gave Sakura a winning smile. "I may not be an expert, but I've taken a few negotiating classes in my day."

Sakura gave a quiet laugh.

"Sure, sensei."

"Oh? Are you doubting your master!?"

"No, no, definitely not."

"You so are!"

A scream cut through their jovial mood like a knife.

It echoed through the corridors around them for what seemed like forever, bouncing off of the spacious ceiling and far-off floor. Sakura's eyes widened as she listened to it, feeling terror overtake her as she stepped forward into Anko's body.

"What was that?"

Anko grimaced, clearly having hoped Sakura wouldn't hear something like that.

"Well, unfortunately, Root is the kind to leave nothing up to chance. If I were to bet, that's some poor sap from the sound village they captured during the retaking of the Village. They're probably interrogating her for something, anything they can get about Orochimaru and his plans." Anko took Sakura's hand in her own and gave a light squeeze. "I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do. Honestly, there's nothing we should do, either. If this is how we get information on Orochimaru… well, it's gruesome, but it could prevent the deaths of hundreds or even thousands of our Leaf Ninja in the future."

Sakura didn't like it, but she could acknowledge at least that she understood the purpose.

At least until the second scream.

She'd been too shocked to really listen to the first one, given that the hall had been silent up until it had rang out, but this time, she could finally pick up on some of the subtleties of the person's voice. It was, for starters, a female voice. She'd known that the first time by the pitch of the scream, but upon hearing it again, she realized something.

_Actually, thinking about it, I feel like I've heard that… scream… before._

Her eyes widened as she took off down the corridor, following her ears as best she could as she heard the girl scream again.

_Below!_

"Sakura, what the hell are you-"

"I know that scream!" She shouted back to her mentor, trying not to panic as she jumped off the platform onto another some twenty feet below.

She channeled chakra into her legs and landed with a roll, running into the opening in the wall as the screaming began to grow louder. A second later she heard another person land just behind her, and she knew by the way they followed that it must've been Anko.

She rounded the corner, zigzagging through complicated halls and doing her best to follow the sound of screaming that grew louder by the second.

When she reached the source of the noise, a single, metal door that was locked from the inside, she felt a rage overcome her that was quite unlike anything she'd felt before.

No, that wasn't quite true. When Naruto had been taken over by the nine-tails, she'd had these same feelings towards Haku for killing him. Even after he'd recovered, Sakura had had a difficult time forgiving him in the beginning, even if she'd ultimately given that up far quicker than Sasuke had.

And she'd felt it one other time as well, at another point in time where, just like right now, she'd let the curse mark flow over and through her. She'd felt that anger at being used as a pawn against her friends in the forest of death, used by the very person she was now trying to save. She focused the curse marks chakra into her right first, and, with a growl under her breath, punched the door with all her might.

It didn't fly off it's hinges like the one Anko had blown down, but it did, at the very least, break the lock.

Two heads turned towards her immediately. Both were interrogators, one of which had an odd sort of tool in his right hand, one that didn't seem directly related to torture, but rather for reading some sort of result, and the other was a slightly taller man, with orange hair drawn down around his face.

He had his hands around Kin's head in a way that made it seem as if he were reading her mind somehow. A second later, upon recognizing the stance from Ino's father, she realized that the man truly was reading the girl's mind.

He must've been a Yamanaka.

"Who the hell are you!?" The second man asked, face covered in a black mask with goggles upon it. At first glance, she thought he looked a bit like Shino. "Fu, get the commander, we have a situation."

"Do we terminate this one?" The man asked, reaching over onto his back, and pulling his blade out, holding it over Kin's throat as casually as if he were lifting it to butter bread.

"No, once we deal with the intruders, we can resume the interrogation."

It was at that moment that Sakura realized Kin's bare leg was on display. Her pant-leg had been draw up to a bit above her thigh, and the exposed flesh was colored rather oddly. It looked like half the leg had been horribly bruised, but even further than that. It took Sakura another second to realize the bruise was moving.

She nearly screamed as she put two and two together.

_They've been torturing her with bugs crawling inside of her skin, poisoning her ever so slowly. _Sakura realized, feeling the same anger from earlier build inside her core, threatening to overtake her as the curse mark covered more and more of her body. _They've been reading inside her mind, and when she doesn't want to show what's there, they let the poison in further._

Kin's screams from before echoed inside her head. They reminded her of her own failure in the forest, but now, the girl was… well, not a friend, but at the very least someone she'd wanted to get to know a bit more. Without thinking about it, the curse mark overtook more of her body, flowing even along the tips of her fingertips.

Her anger was white hot as she drew a weapon out of her bag, but a hand on her shoulder had her stepping backwards. She looked up towards Anko in confusion, but her mentor's expression prevented her from making a move.

"Everyone in this building will be at least as good as a skilled Jonin." Anko walked forward, cracking her neck. "Luckily, your Sensei's just a bit better."

There was no motion from the two standing beside Kin's body, the one with the orange hair Sakura presumed was Fu, and the one with the mask on his face seemed to have an ability to control insects, which probably made them…

_A Yamanaka and an Aburame. _Sakura tried to think through the red haze hovering over her thoughts. _Who cares, I just have to destroy them…_

An odd sense of calm overtook the curse marks will for just a moment, and she realized with a start that she had slipped into it, without even realizing. She lightly slapped both of her cheeks with her hands and watched as the curse mark receded slightly on her left arm.

_I can't forget that the curse mark only wants me to use it so it can abuse me. _Sakura affirmed, taking a battle stance, but standing behind Anko by a way's. _I won't get in Anko's way, but I'll be here if she needs me. That's my role._

Perhaps it was just her imagination, but the curse mark seemed to recede even further at that, like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

"Enough."

The voice that called out was stern, but it did not sound worried, fearful, or engaged in any way with what they were doing. If anything, the voice sounded above it all, like a teacher at a preschool having to tell off a particularly ill-behaved child.

"Master Danzo." Fu and his partner immediately sheathed their weapons, kneeling down before the man that was stalking his way into their small room. "Our apologies sir, but this woman-"

"Silence, I am aware." Danzo looked towards her and Anko, eyes hard as they surveyed the rest of the room. "I do not believe Miss Sakura was given the clearance to leave."

"I didn't realize you had the power to keep her here." Anko challenged, stepping forward and priming herself. This time, however, Sakura noticed her stance was not one of confidence, but of slight fear.

To Sakura, it seemed to signal that, at best, Anko didn't know how this fight would end if they fought.

At worst, Anko thought she'd lose.

"The Third Hokage has perished, and I have been named the Fifth. We are in a state of martial law, as such, I am the foremost authority in the village, and the _only _authority."

_Lord Third is dead!?_ Her eyes widened minutely, but she knew better than to interject herself in this conversation. _I never really talked with the man, but he seemed nice…_

_I hope Naruto's OK._

"Sorry, but I've read some of those laws, acted under them as well, and I don't believe a single one of them gives you the right to kidnap a child." Anko's expression was cold. "Though that's never stopped you before now, I suppose."

Far from being caught off guard by her master's comments, Danzo merely put his cane in front of him, leaning on it as he looked towards the tow of them, completely unimpressed.

"What I have done has always been-"

"In the interest of the Leaf Village, I'm sure." Anko sounded disgusted, and Sakura, through her brief interaction with the man before her, was beginning to see why. "So why exactly are you torturing three Genin who were under the Third Hokage's specific protection?"

That comment, at the very least, caused the man to stop speaking. Sakura didn't quite understand what was going on, but apparently interfering with someone who was protected by the Hokage meant… something.

"Hiruzen is dead." The man replied simply. "His will died with him. I will do what I must to protect the Leaf Village. If that means going behind the back of a dead man, then I will do it."

"Except that the Third Hokage already got information out of these three." Anko pointed out, walking back over to where Kin's body was still laying still upon a raised cot. She briefly inspected the girl's leg, before grimacing, and looking back towards Danzo with a look of pure hate. "And when I look at how she was interrogated, I see very few signs that any work was done to force information out of her, or to convince her to sell out her comrades in some way."

Danzo's eye opened for the first time, and the man squinted at Anko as his fist tightened atop his cane.

"Your point?"

"Oh, I think you know _exactly_ what I'm trying to say." Anko spoke, stepping past Fu and his parter without making eye contact with either. "You're not after information about Orochimaru. If you were, then your soldiers would've taken more prisoners when they were clearing out the Leaf Village. No, instead, there was a nearly ninety-seven percent mortality rating among the sound ninja, and that three percent comes largely from other unaffiliated Konoha Ninja, and from sound ninja's who gave themselves up. Hell, even with this girl, you decided that the best way to torture her was to use a fast-acting, deadly poison. I don't know how you see it, but to me, this all paint's a very interesting picture."

"You're insinuating something very dangerous, Anko." Danzo spoke in his same calm voice, but there was an edge at the back of it that hadn't been there before. "Are you accusing me of-"

"Collusion with Orochimaru in the attack?" Anko confirmed, watching as everyone in the room, including Sakura, flinched ever-so slightly at the accusation, all reaching for their weapons. "No, I'd never do something like that. After all, you're the active Hokage, to say you colluded with an enemy of the Leaf… that's preposterous. Treasonous, even."

Anko stepped forward, so that she stood beside Sakura.

"But what I am saying, Danzo, is that you should be more careful about how your actions come across." Her teacher took Sakura's hand in her own, holding it tightly as she dragged her past the man. "Wouldn't want anyone getting the wrong idea about you, would they?"

As she was pulled forward, Sakura couldn't help but realize they were leaving someone behind.

"Anko Sensei!" She called, trying to dig her heels in both physically and metaphorically. "What about Kin, and her team!?"

Anko's smile held no joy as she looked back over to her.

"Sorry, Sakura, but we don't have much of a choice." Anko gestured to the multiple Root ninja who, having either been summoned by the previous doctor's button, or by the arrival of Danzo himself, were now congregating around the door themselves. "It's us or no one."

_No… I refuse to accept that._

"Now, come on, we have to get out of here before-"

"Excuse me, Mr. Danzo!"

Every head in the entire room turned towards her, Danzo's included, and the man in question looked particularly confused.

"If… If I stayed, would you let those three go!?" It was an idea she couldn't help but blurt out, one born of a longing to save those three that had seemingly been cursed by the very universe itself. "I'll let you look into my curse mark, and the wood style, and… and I'll-"

"Very well." Danzo spoke suddenly, without an ounce of hesitation in his voice.

The man wore an odd expression upon his face as he stepped forward, looking down upon her with a wry smile. Whenever the Third Hokage had donned the look, he'd looked like a grandfather, one which could be trusted with all your deepest secrets, but just having a bit of fun. On Danzo, it looked like you'd played the wrong move, made a mistake, and the man before you was briefly celebrating before he beat you into the ground with it.

"Fu, you go down into the lower brig and let the other two know they're being released. Torune, remove your insects and administer an antidote immediately." Danzo walked over to her, staring smugly at Anko as he did. "Doctor, escort Miss Haruno back to her room. Oh, and have Miss Mitarashi escorted off the premises as well."

"No can do, asshat." Anko stepped in front of Sakura, crossing her arms. "I'll be staying along for your research as well."

Danzo's eyes widened, as if trying to sense a problem with the offer.

"You won't complain, will you?" Anko argued. "After all, having a control group to test things on would certainly help your research, wouldn't it. I am the only other person in the Leaf Village with a curse mark."

Danzo still seemed unsure, but a second later, he smiled once more, realizing why it was Anko would do such a thing.

"Why, Anko, how unexpected." He stepped by the woman, his cane loudly cracking on the ground as he did. "It's not like a snake to grow attached."

"Funny, I'd thought you hadn't heard of that attachment thing." Anko stared through slits at the man as he passed by, still standing protectively in front of Sakura. "You should try it some time, I hear women all over are into the short, calculating and ugly type."

Danzo didn't rise to the rather weak bait, instead letting the cracking of his cane upon the ground be his only answer as he left the premises, gradually making his way out of sight. Upon disappearing, the Anbu who'd been guarding him did as well, going their separate ways as they flashed out of view.

"That was stupid of you." Anko began simply, looking down at her with an unimpressed glare. "You have to understand that the people here are merciless. They will defend the Leaf Village to the last man, and they have no qualms about destroying anyone or anything that gets in their way."

That was all well and good to Sakura, because as she watched the man behind her, Torune as Danzo had called him, extract the poisoned beetles out of Kin's leg and prop her up on the backboard behind her, as she watched the girl's breaths finally grow easy, she couldn't really find it in herself to care what she'd signed up for.

_What you signed the both of you up for. _Her brain reminded her. _Anko came along too, but that was just to help you with your decision. She didn't have to do this, you know._

"Thank you, for staying with me." Sakura spoke guiltily. "I'm not sorry that I chose to do this, but I am sorry you got wrapped up in it."

Anko squinted annoyedly, flicked Sakura's forehead lightly, and then sighed exasperatedly.

"Eh, it's no biggie. Besides I couldn't just leave my favorite student out to dry in some creepy old man's basement, now could I?"

Her mentor's comments had her giggling, up until the same Doctor from earlier, the woman who'd tried to anesthetize her, walked up to the two of them and cleared her throat.

"I will escort the two of you to your rooms."

"Room, singular." Anko spoke out, raising an eyebrow in challenge. "You're not separating me from her, not in here."

The Doctor seemed to contemplate that for a moment, before nodding her head, and holding her hand out as if to guide them.

"In that case, I will escort the two of you to your room."

Anko smiled down at her, a small, fragile thing that Sakura couldn't quite get a handle on.

Just what kind of place was root to elicit such a reaction from her normally unflappable teacher? Who was this Danzo man, the replacement to Lord Third and the new Fifth Hokage? Just what kinds of tests would they be doing on her?

She squeezed Anko's hand, and the woman squeezed back. She didn't look up at Anko, but she did smile slightly at the reassurance of the older woman beside her. She let out a breath, steeled herself, and looked the Doctor before them in the eye.

"Lead the way."

/-/

Naruto sat quietly beside Sasuke at the bar of Ichiraku Ramen. Neither of them spoke, for truly, they didn't really know what to say.

_The old man… he's really dead._

They, like the rest of the Leaf Village, had received the bad news only a few hours after the invading sound and sand ninja's had been pushed out of the village, and it had hit them just as hard, if not harder, than the average citizen.

After all, the Third Hokage had been a comforting figure in both of their lives, though certainly to different degrees.

"Here you are, you two." Old Man Teuchi set two new bowls in front of them, offering them a comforting smile as he did. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry about Lord Hokage. He was a good man, even an old guy like me could see it."

Naruto smiled at the owner, doing his best not to let himself slip back into his depressive atmosphere. Sasuke was already half-way into the new bowl, and whether that was some odd quirk the boy had picked up to combat sadness, or if he really was just that hungry, Naruto had no idea.

After they'd both finished diving into their massive piles of noodles and meat, they looked up towards Ayame, who was leaning over the bar and shooting them a smile.

"So, where's Sakura?" The girl asked, seemingly trying to distract the two of them from how they were feeling. "Is she still recovering?"

"Mhm." Sasuke confirmed, sipping the last of the broth out of his bowl as he set it down and pushed it forward. "We went to visit her yesterday, but apparently they're doing some tests about how the curse mark is affecting her body for the next couple days, so they told us she'd be exhausted for a while."

"We'll still visit anyways," Naruto chimed in, smirking genially as he placed his bowl atop the counter, a quiet request for another. "The rules have never stopped us before!"

"The rules have stopped me numerous times." Sasuke shot him a glare. "Don't include me in your little rebellion."

"Oh? You saying you won't come?"

"Well… I didn't exactly say that."

"Yep, that's what I thought."

"I see, I see." Ayame spoke, giggling quietly as she pushed Naruto's new bowl back across the counter. "So, what are the two of you up to?"

"Waiting." Sasuke answered bluntly. "Both of our teachers are missing at the moment. Well, Jiraiya's just being his usual self, or so Naruto tells me, but I actually haven't heard from Kakashi in a few days." Sasuke rubbed his chin with his hand. "I doubt it's anything sinister, they're probably just dealing with clean-ups related to the attack."

"Ah, I get it."

"That freakin' frog guy!" Naruto shouted angrily, minorly startling a few people who passed by behind him. "I swear he goes missing every five seconds!"

"Oh, talking about me, are we?"

Naruto nearly jumped out of his seat, and directly into his bowl of ramen. He turned around, glaring at the veritable giant as he tried to retain some of his dignity.

By the smirk on the man's face, he was fairly sure it hadn't worked.

"I'll have whatever this brat had." Jiraiya smirked at Ayame, in a way that had Naruto glaring at him even harder. "By the way, I must say you look simply-"

"STOP!" Naruto shouted, punching the man's chest ineffectually. "No being a creepy old man around people I know!"

"Don't worry, Naruto." Ayame shot him a quick smile, stepping back to go and make more ramen as her father washed their bowls. "I'm not so easy as to fall to _this_ man's charms."

Jiraiya guffawed rather loudly at the girl's comments, almost completely ignoring Naruto as he chatted back and forth with Teuchi.

"Wait, Frog guy," Naruto asked the man. "Have you been here before?"

"Are you kidding?" Jiraiya asked, sounding almost offended. "This place's been around about as long as I have. Well, give or take a few years. I don't stop in all that often, given that I'm practically never here, but yeah, I've been."

"He used to be one of our top customers until he just didn't come back one day." Teuchi called form the back. "I just assumed he'd been killed or something, and then one day, maybe 4 years later, he just walks in, completely casually, and orders his 'usual', as if I'd still remember it after all that time."

"Hey, you did remember it!"

"That's not the point!"

Both old men then proceeded to laugh at some inside joke, which Naruto didn't even pretend to understand.

"Oh, right, the point." Jiraiya quickly gulped down the noodles he'd had in his mouth, sighed in bliss as he did, and then turned to Naruto. "You and I are going on a trip."

Naruto tilted his head to the side.

"Why?" He asked, suspicious.

"We're off to go get a new Hokage."

Naruto's head tilted just a bit more.

"Don't we… already have one?"

Jiraiya turned his head, doing one of the fastest area sweeps Naruto had ever seen, and a second later, there was a single croak of a frog from off in the distance. Whatever the signal meant, it was apparently enough for Jiraiya, for he nodded to himself. He looked across the counter, towards the two Ramen chefs, and shot the both of them a look that they seemed to pick up on.

_"It would be better for you if you didn't hear this." _It seemed to say.

They made themselves scarce, washing dishes and making more ramen to distract themselves. When Jiraiya was fully satisfied they wouldn't listen in, he turned back towards the both of them and continued.

"I have reason to suspect Danzo of being complicit in Orochimaru's scheme to attack the Leaf Village."

Both Sasuke's and Naruto's eyes widened. They hadn't had any real cause to doubt Danzo, given that he was the right hand man of the Third Hokage. They, like most people, had simply assumed he was a good person, much like the old man himself.

"Why do you think that, Frog guy?"

"OK, first off, stop calling me frog guy, I do other things than summon frogs."

Naruto thought long and hard about that, scratching his chin as he tried to summon another title that would fit as well as Frog Guy had.

_…Well he called himself a sage, right?_

"Pervy Sage, then." Naruto smiled smugly. "And that's final."

"That's way worse!" Jiraiya shouted.

"Well, you should be careful what you wish for!"

"Quiet, please." Sasuke interjected, sighing. "Jiraiya Sensei, if I may ask, where's Kakashi? I haven't seen him in a few days."

"Ah, that…" Jiraiya hesitated, looking around once again as he seemed to debate on what to say. "He was dealing with some of the wrap-up here in the Leaf, y'know, helping to get the last dregs of sound ninja out, that kind of thing."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Clearly something about that sounded wrong to him.

"Ok, so what actually happened?"

"Alright, fine, fine." Jiraiya raised his hands in surrender. "Some guys from a known terrorist group were sighted in the Leaf Village. Kakashi, along with Asuma and Kurenai, went to fight them off. Kakashi suffered some damage, and he's recovering."

"What's the name of the terrorist group?"

"They're called 'Above your pay grade'."

Sasuke scowled, but nodded, at the very least accepting that. Naruto was briefly concerned about Kakashi's wellbeing, but if Jiraiya was able to talk so casually about it, then he was probably fine.

"Anyways, the reason we're heading out is to go and retrieve the next Hokage, like I said. The person we're getting is Tsunade, the last of the three Sannin, and the granddaughter of Hashirama Senju."

"Huh." Naruto spoke, a lot of that information washing right over him. "Neat, I guess."

Jiraiya just sighed.

"Anyways, Kakashi should be up and about given a few more days, so he should be able to get back to training you around then." Jiraiya pushed himself up from the stool he'd been sat upon, placed his pay down on the counter, nodded to Teuchi, and gestured for Naruto to follow. "If all goes well, we'll be back within a week."

"How likely is it that things will go well?" Naruto asked, feeling more than a little suspicious.

"Eh, knowing Tsunade?" Jiraiya sighed. "Probably not very likely."

"Wait!"

Jiraiya and Naruto both turned, to where Sasuke stood, having just paid for his own meal. He had a steel in his gaze that Naruto hadn't seen for a while.

"I'd like to go as well."

Jiraiya's eyes widened, but he didn't instantly shoot the idea down. No, he seemed to be honestly considering it.

"And why should I take you along?" Jiraiya asked, smirking in that annoying way he always did. "What's in it for me?"

Sasuke seemed confused by that.

"Uhm… Technically nothing, I suppose?"

"Well, at least you're honest. Alright, fine, what do _you _hope to gain by coming?"

"Respectfully sir, you are a Sannin, despite how much you seem to downplay that fact with… everything else about you."

"That's hurtful."

"You don't deny it, though, do you?" Sasuke spoke, sighing exasperatedly a moment later. "Listen, I'm trying to surpass my brother, and I'll do anything to get the power to defeat him."

Jiraiya paused for a moment, his eyes scanning Sasuke's very soul as they gazed at him.

"Anything?"

Sasuke seemed about ready to parrot the phrase, when, all of a sudden, he hesitated. It was the first time Naruto had seen the boy sound unsure regarding his brother.

"No, there's a few things I wouldn't do," Sasuke answered honestly. "But kiss up to one of the most incompetently strong ninja I've ever met? That I'll do in a heartbeat."

"With all due respect kid, which is none, by the way, if this is what you consider kissing up, you should probably practice a bit more." Jiraiya groaned loudly. "Fine, you can come. We're leaving in an hour. Don't think I'm waiting for either of you if you're not at the gate ready to go when I arrive."

Sasuke nodded, before turning back towards his house and rushing off. Naruto couldn't help but smile at the boy's conduct, and the situation they'd found themselves in.

_I get to go on a training trip with Sasuke! _Naruto mentally cheered, saying his goodbye's to Jiraiya and making his way back to his house. _This is gonna be awesome!_

They'd always done much better when they were competing against one another, that much was for certain. Naruto was fairly confident in saying that he'd learned much more from their spars than in his entire time at the academy. If they were really going to be learning things on the same scale as what he'd learned with Jiraiya on his own…

_Maybe he'll teach Sasuke how to summon a frog! _Naruto thought to himself, cackling slightly as he packed away a few spare outfits and a few cups of ramen. _Or maybe he'll turn Sasuke's hair white._

Naruto would pay to see that.

As he finished gathering his stuff, stuffing it into his bag as best he could, and slung it along his back, a single thought seemed to push through to the forefront of his mind.

_What was it that Sasuke meant when he said there were a few things he wouldn't do?_

A long time ago, he'd once asked Sasuke what he'd do in order to kill his brother. The answer had been an immediate "whatever it takes.". It had been edgy as hell, for one thing, but it had also been a fairly good indicator of how much Sasuke valued himself and those around him. At the time, everything to the boy had simply been a method of reaching Itachi, of gaining his revenge.

_…Did that change somehow? _Naruto thought. _I mean, we did have that talk in the park… and I told him I wanted him to find a reason to live that wasn't just us…_

Naruto smiled suddenly as he realized what it was Sasuke wouldn't do.

_He wouldn't harm any of his friends, would he?_

It was obvious upon further thinking. He'd missed it, most likely, because it was so obvious a thing. Still, the words weren't enough for him to reconsider Sasuke's self-destructive tendencies.

_I'm more than willing to bet he'd still give his own life for Itachi's. _Naruto sighed. _The damned idiot, doesn't he realize we care about him…_

_Well, of course he does, it's the only reason he's not going out there and doing his best to find and challenge Itachi as we speak. _Naruto realized with a sigh. _Still, it'd be a lot easier to relax if he could just… I don't know… settle down a bit._

But was that fair to Sasuke?

_It doesn't feel fair_, Naruto concluded as he descended the stairs of his apartment complex and headed out to the gate to meet up with Jiraiya. _Asking him to give up on his aspirations just because it scares me… scares us… that's not fair, is it._

He sighed as his thought process got far too complicated for him to be dealing with, and by the time he was actually able to focus, he'd already made it to the gate. When he arrived, he saw Sasuke first and foremost, but no sign of Jiraiya, who'd assured them that if either of them were late, he'd have left them behind.

"Where's pervy sage?" Naruto asked, looking around for the man as he said it. "Is he just late, or…?"

"He's over there," Sasuke pointed with his thumb where, sure enough, Jiraiya was talking with the gatekeepers about something. "Trying to earn us permission to leave the village on an unsanctioned mission."

"Oh… Wait, since when does he need permission to do anything?"

"Yeah that's basically what he said when he talked to them." Sasuke explained. "Obviously a Genin can't leave the village on their own, but a world-renowned Jonin should be able to basically do whatever he wants, within reason."

That did seem rather odd to Naruto, though a second later it seemed the matter at the gate was finalized. Jiraiya walked back over to them, whispering curses under his breath as he took a deep, calming breath.

"Welp, we can leave, but Naruto has to stay here."

"Wait, what!?" Naruto shouted, wondering just what the hell that was about. "Why do I have to stay here."

"Because that's what our illustrious Lord Hokage desires." Jiraiya sighed. "He's very particular about 'assets' leaving the village, especially dangerous ones that house Tailed-Beasts."

_Does that mean… am I really not going?_

"Hey Naruto?" Jiraiya asked.

"Y-yeah?"

"Can you give me a transformation Jutsu?"

"Uhm… sure, why?"

"No reason, just transform into another of the Genin you know, one that isn't Sakura."

"Oh, uh…" Without really thinking too hard, he put his hands together, shouted "Transformation!" At the top of his lungs and was Tenten a second later. "How about this?"

"Alright, cool, come with me." Jiraiya gestured for the two to follow him as he walked up the gatekeepers, who Naruto was pretty sure were named Izumo and Kotetsu, having spoken with them a good number of times on their way out of the village. "Hey you two, welp, Naruto had to stay behind, so I went and grabbed Miss Tenten from Team Guy."

Naruto, or, well, Tenten looked up at Jiraiya, a look of absolute disbelief on his face as he stared hard at the man.

_Does he actually expect this dumb plan to work!? _Naruto was, frankly, astounded. _They literally watched me transform!_

"Hmm…" Kotetsu leaned forward, smiling peculiarly as he did. "Yep, seems to be Tenten from Team Guy to me." The man stamped down on a form in front of him, before jotting down a small note. "Yes, yes, everything does seem to be in order. Izumo?"

"Mhm," The other man commented, smirking to himself. "It does seem like Tenten of team Guy, Sasuke Uchiha of Team 7, and Jiraiya of the Sannin. I see no reason to prevent them from leaving the village."

"Alright, you three are cleared to go." The gatekeepers gave a small wink as they went back to their papers, laughing quietly to themselves as Jiraiya led them out of the gate.

As they traveled a bit further, and Naruto listened to Jiraiya laugh at his expense, he couldn't help growing a bit upset.

"Alright, you could've just told me the gatekeepers were in on it." Naruto spoke annoyedly as he released his transformation Jutsu.

"And miss out on the look on your face!?" Jiraiya turned to look at him, guffawing to himself. "Not a damn chance."

"Where are we off to, Jiraiya Sensei?" Sasuke asked, sounding like a giant kiss-ass.

"To the nearest gambling parlor." Jiraiya exclaimed, as if that made all the sense in the world. "We'll start looking there."

He and Sasuke exchanged a small look. Neither of them seemed to know what was going on.

"Uhm, Pervy Sage? Why would she be at a place like that?"

"Tsunade loves gambling like you love Ramen. It's hard for her to go a day without indulging herself. Trust me, it's the casinos we're looking for."

"Ok, but even if she had been there, why would they have any information on where she is?" Sasuke asked, feeling rather skeptical. "I mean, we'd basically have to search every casino in the country at that rate."

"Let's just say that Tsunade's a bit of an odd person, who's built herself something of a…"

Jiraiya sighed, even as a weary smile carved it's way onto his face.

"Reputation."

**End Chapter 33**

* * *

**Yo.**

**Alright, Arc set-ups and whatnot.**

**Sakura and Anko bail out the Sound Ninja's again, who at this point have to have been smited by the universe to have luck this bad. Sasuke joins Naruto and Jiraiya to go get Tsunade back, and Danzo's being shady as hell.**

**This is nothing new, though, so whatever.**

**In other news, I may be flying back to my old home state in order to help move some of my family's stuff back to where we live now, so if you don't get a chapter next week, that's why.**

**Basically, assume you'll get one, and if you don't, well...**

**My bad, I guess.**

**See you all in (Number ranging from 1 to 2) week(s?)!**


	34. Chapter 34

**Hey! How's everyone doing?**

**So I ended up going on that trip back down south to help my family move the remainder of our stuff, and my god, I will never do that again. It was hell at every stage. I got back Tuesday, but frankly, I was way too exhausted to grind a chapter out that night. I hope you'll all forgive me.**

**It's done now, though, so at least I can go back to a normal, weekly schedule now.**

**...Probably?**

**...Am I just jinxing myself?**

**Anyways, without further ado, to infinity, and beyond.**

* * *

**Chapter 34: Reunited  
**

* * *

The world swayed in her vision as Sakura fell to her knees, entirely spent.

"And that's that." A woman, far off behind a piece of protective glass, spoke out to the others in the room. "We've determined the effects a lack of chakra has on the curse mark, let her rest for an hour, and we'll continue then."

"Three hours." Another woman, stern and unrelenting, answered back. "And if I see you try and force her any earlier…"

"R-right," The woman from before sputtered out, utterly cowed. "Three hours it is."

There was the sound of shuffling feet, of boots upon stone echoing through her small room, and then nothing. A moment later, footprints echoed on the stone floor as they approached her, and she heard the sounds of ruffling cloth as someone bent down next to her.

"Sakura, you alright?"

She tried to ignore the way her vision spun as she met Anko's eyes, and gave the woman the weakest smile the land of fire had ever seen.

"Peachy."

Anko glared at her.

"I can't tell if that was supposed to be a wood-related pun, or if you're really just that out of it."

She certainly hadn't meant it like that, but she'd take the credit for the terrible joke anyways.

"Anyways, you're sure these tests aren't too much for you?" Anko asked once more, showing for the fourth of fifth time that day that she really did care for Sakura. "If you can't handle it, there's no shame in-"

"For the umpteenth time, I'm fine!" Sakura called to the woman, pushing herself up and doing some light stretches. "Even if I wasn't, my being here if the only thing keeping Zaku and his friends safe. Besides, this is actually some pretty good training… I think I figured something out while I was training a second ago, I'm going to try it… Uhm, this might go badly, so-"

Anko snickered.

"You talk as if anything in this place has gone well so far."

"Yeah, I guess that's fair." Sakura spoke, before beginning to concentrate.

She reached out for her chakra as she closed her eyes. She pictured a bundle of energy in the pit of her stomach, and urged that energy to flow, almost effortlessly, towards her left shoulder. She'd been told that she had sublime chakra control by many people she'd trained with, ranging from Kakashi to Anko, but she couldn't help but wonder how anyone could struggle with something so simple.

_I wonder if this is how people like Sasuke feel about Ninjutsu?_

She guided her chakra further, up onto a particular part of her neck and subsequently, into her curse mark.

The chakra that poured out from it felt dark and cold to her as she let her own collide with it. Even without digging deeper into it, it was obvious that it was malevolent in some way. She wouldn't have had to deal with the side-effects for nearly two months now to figure that out.

She pushed on it, gathering it up and herding it back into the small black indentations on her neck where it usually dwelled. She pushed and prodded on it until, like a flock of sheep in the countryside, it retreated into the only place it could, the very depths of her curse mark. With a bit more of her chakra, she enveloped the 'gateway' that the malevolent chakra had taken, surrounding it on all sides.

With one last push, and a gasping breath, she forced the curse mark into inactivity all on her own.

She might've fallen on her hands and knees a second later, but she couldn't help the rush of accomplishment at her ability.

"Did you just…" Anko's eyes were wide, but they held a certain pride within them that had Sakura practically beaming.

"Yeah, I did." Sakura choked out a laugh, letting herself fall prone onto the ground, staring up at the ceiling above her and giggling some more. "I can turn the curse mark off of my own volition now! That was… that's the one thing I've always struggled with. I never wanted to lose myself to it again, and now… now I might really not!"

Sakura briefly congratulated herself, before reality, as per usual, took all the fun out of her things.

_Well, I closed it when I had no outward source to distract me, and I wasn't feeling particularly angry or negative, and I wasn't in duress, not to mention that it took me over a minute to do… _

_Y'know what, I'll just focus on the accomplishment for now. _Sakura smiled sedately, looking back towards Anko, and shooting her mentor a smile. _I'm sure Anko will praise me a bit more, too._

"Well, you closed it when there was nothing to distract you, and you weren't really feeling negative, completely ignoring that-"

"Not you too!"

Anko looked over towards her, evidently rather confused.

"Uh… me too?"

"Don't ask." Sakura sighed in exasperation as she spread her hands out on her sides, nearly making dust angels on the stone below her. "Thanks for telling them to wait a bit longer for the next tests, though… frankly, I'm exhausted."

"Yeah, it's not that hard to tell." Anko shot her a playful apologetic look. "You've sweated more in the last hour than you have all day. Frankly, you smell like shit."

"Why thank you, kind teacher," Sakura deadpanned. "With insights such as those, I'll surely have the knowledge I require to finish the remainder of these tests."

"Hey, the ability to smell is a fairly important skill, you know."

"Oh, suck it!"

Anko laughed audibly, sitting down on the floor opposite her and leaning against the wall.

"Still, I've gotta' admit… you impress me, kiddo."

Sakura's expression must've given away how much she'd been expecting that little revelation, because Anko laughed for quite a while at her expense as she tried not to blush too hard.

"S-sorry, sorry," Anko wiped a tear from her eye. "You should've seen your face though, honestly, it was-"

"You were saying earlier?" Sakura cut in with narrowed eyes.

Anko giggled quietly, but nodded, continuing from where she'd left off.

"I was just thinking… when I was your age, Orochimaru gave me a curse mark as well." Anko's face darkened slightly, though she never lost the smile that adorned her face. "He abandoned me, threw me away like trash. Instead of doing anything about it, I just sort of… rotted for a while."

Sakura sat up, giving the woman her undivided attention.

"I don't think anyone could blame me, and at the time, I received nothing but support from people all around the Leaf Village… but that didn't make me feel any better." Anko sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I think… when I'm with you, and I see you like this… I realize that this is what I could've been doing, y'know? Helping people, going on missions, training myself to be stronger instead of wallowing away in sorrow, thinking I wasn't good enough for some madman's idea of strength."

Sakura's eyes were wide as her teacher stopped briefly, gathering her thoughts before she continued.

"I think I've been doing a pretty good job teaching you, at least from my opinion, but… well, sometimes I sit here and worry… am I going to end up just like Orochimaru?" It was clear from how Anko said it that even she knew it wouldn't happen. But it, like many other fears and phobia's, was not based entirely upon reality. "I… I hate to come right out and ask for validation, or… or make you want to lie to me, or support me out of some weird guilt or anything, but…"

Anko looked right at her, an odd sense of vulnerability hanging around the woman.

"Do you think I've been doing a pretty good job as your teacher?"

Sakura sat stunned for a moment, too caught off guard by her teacher's show of weakness, however small it truly was, to think. She brought herself back a moment later, realizing that this wasn't a time where she could hesitate.

"Y-You've been doing amazing!" She shouted out, fists curling into balls as she held them both out in front of her, enthusiastically waving them around as she tried to break her teacher out of her funk. "I mean, my only other experiences with a teacher are with Iruka Sensei and Kakashi Sensei, but you're the only one of those three who really focused on me individually, and you always take time out of your schedule to help me! You've taught me a lot of awesome Jutsu, and you taught me about myself, too, and all kinds of different things!" She found herself ranting almost hysterically as she pushed further still, desperate for Anko to understand her appreciation. "But you've also joked around with me, and been a friend for me, and someone I could rely on and trust, so… so don't think that you're not doing a good job, because I think you're the best!"

The room was silent as she breathed the final line of her impromptu speech. It took a moment for a quiet laughter to break though, and she looked up at Anko's face to see the woman brush away a tear. It was an almost absent act. Sakura felt that, even having seen it firsthand, had she tried to remember the scene later, recounting it word for word, she wouldn't have believed it had been real.

"Honestly, where do you get off making a speech like that?" Anko spoke through a smile as she stood up, bracing herself against the wall behind her as she looked back down at her. "Don't think I'm going to curve your grade just because you're being a teacher's pet, little missy."

"Oh, please, like I'd need to do something like that to pass." She fired back.

The smile on Anko's face widened further as the woman stepped towards the door.

"I suppose you wouldn't, would you?" The woman laughed, placing her hand upon the handle with a delicateness that was entirely unlike her. "Alright, I'm going to get out of your hair. Get some rest, recover some chakra, and for god's sakes, take a shower."

Sakura snorted, but nodded as the woman checked for her reaction over her shoulder. As if she realized she had something more to say, Anko pulled the door back open, but hesitated in the entrance-way.

Her mentor turned back around, opened her mouth as if to speak, and then seemingly lost the words she'd meant to say.

"What is it, Sensei?"

Anko breathed out a second later, sighing slightly as various emotions played upon her features, until, at last, it seemed the woman could take it no longer.

If Sakura wasn't mistaken, then there was an actual, honest to god blush on Anko's face. To think, Sakura had found something that could actually embarrass a woman who wore nothing but a trench-coat and fishnet's not just in her own home, but out in public. Daily.

Being honest with their emotions.

"I…" She seemed to be trying to find the perfect thing to say, but a second later, she must've realized that keeping things simple was for the best. "I want the two of us to find a way to free ourselves of Orochimaru's grasp. I don't want to do it alone, either, but with your help. And…"

Anko met her eyes, smiling reassuringly.

"I want you to keep relying on me. Always."

Sakura found herself smiling as well, even giggling as she pushed herself up, and walked the distance of the room over towards her teacher. She brought her arms up and wrapped them around the woman's torso, bringing her into a tight hug.

"Of course." She answered.

She hadn't expected to be pushed away a second later, practically pried off as if Anko had been using a crowbar.

"Ack! What did I just say!" Anko coughed as she shook in place, trying to rid herself of the sweat that now caked her clothing. "You smell, and you're sweaty, don't go around hugging people when you're like that!"

Somehow, Sakura found the entire scene far too entertaining, and a giggle that broke through her defenses gradually gave way to a bubbly laugh. It hijacked her body, forcing her to brace herself against the wall beside her to keep herself upright as her body shook.

"Hey! This isn't funny, I'm going to smell like a sweaty twelve-year-old for two hours now!"

The woman's comments only made her laugh more, and by the time she realized she was far too exhausted from the day's events to be expending this much energy, she found her vision getting foggy.

Sleep threatened to overtake her in the next few seconds as she grew quiet, her laughter fading as her breaths evened out. Even Anko's complaints faded into the background. She smiled easily as the sound around her became entirely muted, snuggling up on the cold stone beneath her.

A second later, two hands gripped her from underneath her body, and she was airborne, clutched in Anko's arms as the woman carried her off to their shared room.

"Falling asleep in the middle of the hallway," She heard Anko speak from what felt like a million miles away. "Honestly, Sakura… What am I supposed to do with you?"

"Pamper me endlessly." Sakura answered almost silently.

Anko flicked her lightly on her forehead.

"Shut up, you."

Sakura could only giggle as sleep took her.

/-/

Gaara sat quietly upon a bench just outside the Sand Village's Sealing Corps workroom, doing his best not to be bothered by the lack of noises inside his head.

His siblings had gone out to get the three of them something to eat from a local shop, but that still left him on his own until they returned. Alone, both physically, and with his thoughts.

Normally, even when no one had been around, there had been a voice in his head to remind him that he was never truly alone, to whisper in his ear, now…

Now Gaara wasn't sure what to do.

He also wasn't sure if that was a terribly bad thing either.

The sound of the door opening beside him had Gaara looking up, and it was into the face of a elder member of the sealing corps, whose name he did not know.

"Right, you're good to come on in now, unless you'd want to wait for the others?"

"I'm fine." Gaara responded simply, standing, and stepping into the room. It was a fairly standard looking medics' office, though instead of the usual medical kits you'd expect to see, there were instead numerous diagrams set up on the walls, detailing different types of seals, and how they interacted with one another.

Gaara decided to cut right to the chase.

"How long will this take?"

"Shouldn't take more than five minutes, honestly." The man gestured for Gaara to lift his shirt, and Gaara did, showing off the seal on his stomach. "Hmm… yeah, I've been looking at the note the caster left, and it seems he was telling the truth. It's a relatively crude five-elements seal."

"What does that mean?" Gaara asked as he put his shirt back down.

"It means that the caster didn't lie, for whatever reason, he really did give me instructions on how to disable it." The seal master spoke, stroking his beard with one hand. "Course, I could've handled something of this level, but it's the thought that counts, really."

There was a knock on the door a second later, and the seal master let out a grunt before unlocking it.

"Sorry we're late, Gaara." Kankuro apologized as he and his sister stepped into the room, offering him an ice-cream cone, which he declined to take, as he sat down in a chair at the back of the room. "There was a huge line, you should've seen it."

"It must've been, to hold you two that long." Gaara remarked, turning back towards the older man in the room, feeling a bit more confident to speak now that his siblings were present. "Actually, sir, I wanted to wait until my siblings arrived, there's something I'd like to ask you."

The man before them seemed perplexed, but he nodded, drawing up a wheeled chair from his desk and sitting upon it, turning towards the three of them.

"Alright, kid, shoot."

Gaara took a deep breath, focusing internally for just a moment.

It was silent, and yet, over the past few days, that silence had been gradually changing for him. Where once it was maddening, driving his sanity to an almost fever pitch, now that feeling was gradually calming. It was still hard to focus, in an oddly oxymoronic way, without Shukaku's constant rambling, and yet…

He'd been able to sleep for the past few days. He'd been able to feel well rested, to feel like he was in his right mind. Even if it had taken him four hours to finally fall asleep, due to the utter quiet of his room, it had still come to pass…

He'd still been able to do it, as opposed to when Shukaku had controlled his mind.

And so to him the answer was simple, there was really only one thing to do.

"I'd like to propose leaving my seal partially locked," Gaara spoke calmly, trying to ignore the way everyone in the room turned to him with wide eyes. "Keeping Shukaku from interfering with my headspace… I'd like to leave my seal as is."

The seal master in front of him blinked, as if he couldn't quite believe what he was hearing.

"You do realize that the added seal is drastically cutting down on your power, right?" The man asked, eyeing Gaara weirdly. "If I left it, your ability to control that sand of yours would plummet, as would your chakra reserves."

"Then I'll learn to make up for both." Gaara countered simply, a serene smile set upon his features which seemed to leave his siblings floundering. "Right now… I feel an odd sense of… is this peace, perhaps?" He wondered aloud, watching as the expressions of his siblings softened. "Whatever this feeling is… I at least want to experience it a bit longer. You could undo this seal at any time, correct?"

The seal master rubbed the back of his head, seeming fairly deep in thought.

"Yeah, I suppose I could, but your father always said-"

"Our father is dead." Gaara interrupted, not quite glaring, but narrowing his eyes slightly at the man in front of him. "I will not allow him to ruin my life even now."

Instead of being offended like Gaara had thought the man would be, he received a sharp bark of laughter.

"Yeah, your old man was an asshole all right." The man's snarky grin told Gaara he'd had more than a few reasons to desire Gaara's father dead and wasn't that broken up about it now that it'd happen. "After a while, you get a bit tired repairing the same seal on an eight-year old's body, or tightening it and loosening it for experiments, and hell, that's leaving out all the other bullshit. Frankly, kid, if you want to keep that inhibitor, then you do you."

Gaara felt a small relief, but that was interrupted when the man before him leaned in, his eyes dark and foreboding.

"But know that your power will forever be dwarfed compared to what it could be. In comparison, you'd be like a sitting duck, just a regular Genin in terms of strength. You'd have to train your ass off to make up for it."

Gaara heard the man's warnings but couldn't quite muster the strength to mind that much. If it meant he got to live his life in peace, got to enjoy his time with his siblings, got some semblance of a chance to live a normal life, without his father's will or Shukaku interrupting, then…

Then there wasn't much he wouldn't give up.

"I want to." Gaara concluded.

The man sighed, but a wry smile on his face told Gaara he wasn't disappointed.

"Alright, well, I'm still going to loosen that seal as much as I can." The man spoke, turning around to his desk, and beginning to draw a small diagram on a sheet of paper. "I'll come as close to releasing Shukaku as I can, without letting the beast out of his chains. You won't quite be up to snuff to how you used to, but it should be about half your old power, as opposed to only a quarter."

Gaara smiled serenely, feeling a burden he hadn't known was there be lifted. He'd been worried about becoming an obstacle in Temari and Kankuro's way, one they'd have to look after.

"Thank you, sir."

"Don't thank me, kid." The man smirked. "You're the one that's gonna' have to live with this, I'm just slapping you in the chest with magic."

The man drew five blue flames onto his fingertips. After closing his eyes, he seemed to concentrate. The flames dimmed ever so slightly, as if decreasing in power.

"Alright, pull your shirt up one more time, be forewarned, this may feel a bit weird."

"Right." Gaara answered back, following the man's orders and bracing himself.

"Okay, here goes."

A sudden flash of… something encompassed his entire being. It felt like he was burning alive, and yet, at the same time, it didn't hurt. It was more becoming consumed in a bright warmth that was neither comfortable nor uncomfortable.

And then a second later it was over, and he felt no different to how he had before.

"What exactly did you do?" Gaara questioned, moving his arms as he tried to find if anything felt sluggish. "I don't feel any different."

"I'm guessing you haven't been playing around with your sand at all since you got back, then?"

"I saw no reason to."

"That'd be why, if you had, you'd have seen it was far different to what you were used to, in terms of your relative ability. This'll still be different, but not to the same degree." The man turned back around, wrote something on a small slip of paper, and then handed it to Gaara. "If you've got any other questions, you can come back in and see me any time, just show this to Candice at the front desk, and she'll send you right up."

"Thank you very much, sir." Temari spoke with a bow, nearly toppling her two scoops of ice-cream as she did.

"Likewise." Kankuro muttered, following his sister's example.

"No problem, hey, you take care of each other, alright you three?"

"Will do, sir." Temari spoke, and Kankuro nodded, handing Gaara the ice-cream he'd rejected earlier as the three of them stepped out of the room.

"Why are you giving me ice-cream?" Gaara couldn't help but ask as he looked up at his brother and sister.

"Well, we just…" Kankuro rubbed the back of his head self-consciously, evidently having not expected to be called out. "-thing nice for you."

"What?"

Kankuro glared at him, actually blushing.

"We just wanted to do something nice for you!" He shouted far louder than was really necessary. "There! I said it!"

"Actually," Temari spoke, a teasing smile set upon her face. "It was Kankuro's idea."

"Oi!"

A small breath of laughter escaped Gaara's nostrils, though even that alone was enough to cause his siblings to stop in their tracks. They smiled at him in an odd way, like he was a small child or an animal they'd been given custody over. He wasn't entirely sure how he felt about that, yet.

"I would like to go and try out my abilities, to see how much the loss of Shukaku has affected me." Gaara spoke simply, walking down the hallway with his siblings in tow. "I… could use training partners."

He didn't turn back to see their expressions, but judging from the way his siblings matched his pace, standing side-by-side with him, he assumed they were excited.

"Of course, we will." Kankuro smiled widely.

"That's what family's for, after all." Temari responded, an elated expression upon her visage.

Gaara smiled back, content in the knowledge that they would help him, and even more content knowing that, despite the quiet as they walked to the training ground, there was no one to break it. There was no voice to interrupt his thoughts, no worming malevolence trying to damage his psyche.

There was only he, Gaara, and his family.

_Family, hm? _Gaara pondered.

_It sounds wonderful._

/-/

Zaku sat quietly inside of his 'room' in the root compound. It was more of a prison cell than anything else, but he was still technically free to wander around as much as he wanted, provided, of course, that he and his teammates didn't try to leave.

_Not like we'd have the chance. _Zaku moped silently, hitting his head on the wall behind him in a rhythmic motion. _They'll torture Kin again if we try it.  
_

The fact that the girl had come back alive at all stunned him. He'd been ready to say their entire journey was all for not when she'd been taken by Danzo's men a few days back. He and Dosu had screamed, fought, and nearly been killed themselves trying to free her, but it hadn't been enough.

And then she'd simply been dumped back into her cell, without so much an explanation as to why.

He hadn't really been in the questioning mood, either, more than willing to accept that they'd simply "gotten everything they could" out of Kin.

Even if, looking back, Zaku could tell such an excuse was bullshit.

After banging his head against the wall for a bit too long, and developing a headache that was entirely his fault, he decided that he could, perhaps, use a walk.

The Root compound might've actually been **more **dreary than Orochimaru's base of operations, which was _really _saying something. He chocked that up to the atmosphere that the people working there seemed to carry with them, which was one of cold indifference. It was notably different from how Orochimaru ruled through fear, but still fundamentally similar, Zaku supposed. The difference was in the people. Where in Orochimaru's base you had a fairly average rogue's gallery of people, from all different walks of life, here there were only trained professionals. Professionals who, from Zaku's experience, seemed to be pretty damn boring.

His steps echoed through the practically endless chasms which spanned the entirety of the root compound, built with bridges running through all different corridors, connecting them at seemingly random points.

To Zaku, at least, it seemed the person who'd designed this place was high on something, but he'd decided there were better things to be doing with his time than insulting the architect.

It was a while later when he spotted someone who shouldn't have been there.

It was a girl with pink hair, sweating profusely as black markings ran across her skin. She seemed to be focusing incredibly hard on something, although just what that something was, Zaku couldn't tell from his distance.

He decided to get a closer look.

He stalked his way into her room, and was instantly spotted by an older looking woman, who he thought he vaguely recognized, but whose name he'd either never heard, or he'd forgotten.

"You're that Zaku kid." The woman whispered, evidently trying not to break Sakura's concentration. "If you want to speak with her, wait a minute, she should finish here soon."

"Finish with what?" He murmured back, but by then, the woman had gone back to paying attention only to Sakura. "Ugh, fine."

He wasn't sure why he ended up staying around, it wasn't like he particularly cared what Sakura was here for, even if he was pretty sure it related to the curse mark Orochimaru had given her. Despite that, his feet didn't move until the girl suddenly let out a shout of pain, and crumpled to the floor, breathing hard.

"Sakura!" Her… attendant called out to her, rushing over and sitting the girl up in her arms. "You alright?"

It took Zaku a second to realize, with some small semblance of shock, that he too had stepped forward to help the pink-haired girl. He decided to pretend that hadn't happened.

"F-fine." The girl breathed out with some effort, looking down at a piece of paper on the ground that Zaku hadn't noticed at first. "But I did it, Anko! Look!"

Zaku gazed intently at the piece of paper below him. It was an intricate design of seals that, from his experience, were designed to combine chakra natures. In the middle lay a tiny, almost invisible seed, one which had a tiny leaf sprouting out of it.

"You really did!" The woman named Anko practically shouted, excitement causing her to raise her voice about a thousand decibels higher than Zaku really wanted. "That's my student! Hah!"

Sakura's laughter was cut short as she noticed him, and her face went through a wide range of emotions, not the least of which was, apparently, embarrassment. This was probably in large part due to her being held aloft in her teacher's arms.

Sakura scampered free a moment later, hitting the stone floor with a quiet "oof", before pushing herself up, walking over, and smiling up at him.

"You're OK!" She practically gasped out in relief. "I was worried they'd still be torturing you three! But… wait, they said they'd release you!"

"Uhm…"

"Yeah, thing you'll learn about Danzo is that he's trustworthy about zero percent of the time." The woman named Anko muttered matter-of-factly. "Still, good to see you're alright, kid, Sakura was panicked about you guys."

_What…?_

"Wait, you knew about us?" Zaku questioned. "What happened? How the hell did you even figure that out?"

"Well… long story, but the long and short of it is that I ran into Kin while she was being tortured yesterday. I… may've offered myself as a research subject so they'd let her go…"

The girl spoke as if she were embarrassed, and for once, Zaku felt he could finally understand the person in front of him.

_Oh, so she's really just an idiot then. _Zaku concluded. _At least that makes things simpler._

"Don't sound embarrassed about saving my teammates life." Zaku chided, a bit of anger coursing it's way into his voice, though he bit down on it a moment later. "Honestly, where do you get off sounding like some kind of pure maiden! I've seen you fight, you're a vicious freakin' gremlin!"

Sakura's cheeks lit up once more, and she stared at the ground, an angry sort of pout materializing on her features.

"That was one time."

"Nope, when you fought that guy in the Chuunin Exams… what was his name… uh… guy from the leaf village who was a spy?"

Sakura seemed to blank as well.

"Eh, whatever, even back then, you fought him with all the grace of a chicken with its head cut off!"

"That's awfully subjective!"

Zaku glared at her, but relented a moment later, sighing.

"My bad."

"Er… it's fine?" Sakura seemed lost on just why he'd gone on such a tirade in the first place, and quite honestly, so was he.

A second later, he felt a mild blush come to his own face as he realized what he ought to do. He swallowed his nerve, tried to kill his embarrassment, and held out his hand.

A moment or two passed without anything happening.

"Uhm… what are you doing?"

His blush grew ten-fold, and he had to bite back a scream.

_Couldn't someone just kill me!? _Zaku wished. _Please, it would be so much easier!_

He sighed as no would-be killer emerged.

"I… I'm offering a hand-shake." He spoke, trying not to cringe at how horrible that sounded. "For… for saving Kin's life. I-I owe you one!"

He couldn't bear to open his eyes, and so he stood there, motionless, for perhaps twenty seconds, before finally, a hand reached his, taking it and shaking it a single time.

"Friends, then?"

His eyes snapped open.

"This does **not **make us friends!" Zaku shouted. "It means that I and my team owe you one! We'll repay a debt! That is entirely different from being friends!"

Unsurprisingly, the girl before him seemed to find all of this incredibly funny. Her laughter filled the air, and the blush in his cheeks only grew greater.

"Sorry, sorry." Sakura wiped a tear from her eye. "You just… remind me a lot of Sasuke."

_The Uchiha?_

"He's just like you, all edgy and worried about his image." Sakura's smirk told him she was joking. "But seriously, you're welcome. I don't know how you guys feel, but if anything, I'd like to think of **my **debt as being repaid, not you owing me one. I did try and kill Kin in the forest… so…"

"Eh, we probably had it coming." Zaku shook off her doubts, before his face went red again, and he turned around. "A-anyways, I'll see you around, alright?"

"Likewise!"

He walked out of the room, all too aware of the stare digging a hole into the back of his head. It wasn't Sakura's, but her teacher's. It also wasn't one of worry, or fear, or of doubt.

She was staring at him as if she had him all figured out.

He didn't quite understand why, but he could at least interpret what she might've meant. Did she think he was planning on harming Sakura in some way?

_No… she didn't seem hostile, if anything, she seemed amused._

_…Well, whatever. _Zaku concluded. _Probably doesn't matter._

Still, he couldn't help but focus on his own dumb behavior earlier. He'd acted like a complete fool, a massive, cringe-worthy fool. His own dialogue wouldn't stop playing over and over in his head, nearly causing him to tip over as he groaned out loud.

_Could I have sounded any stupider if I tried? _He tried to laugh it off. _I mean, honestly, the way I was talking, I sounded like a kid with a schoolyard crush._

_…_

Zaku's eyes widened.

_No. _He tried to deny. _No, no, no, no, no!_

_I do not!_

His cheeks grew red, and yet, this time, he had a horrible feeling it wasn't from embarrassment at all.

Or at the very least, not the same kind as before.

_She's annoying! And naïve! Not to mention that she's connected to Orochimaru, and… and…_

_"But she's kind, and caring, and she's beautiful too." _Another voice, one that sounded annoyingly like his old friend Reis, seemed to tease him. _"Honestly, what's not to like?"_

_Did you hear none of what I just thought!? _He berated his own mind. _I simply refuse! I won't fall for some… some… ignorant little child! Besides, the last thing I need right now is some boyhood crush!_

His mind, as it perhaps should've from the start, offered no reply.

"Good!" He spoke aloud, breathing heavily as he walked back to his 'room'. "Glad we got that out of our system!"

_…She is kind of pretty._

"God Dammit!"

/-/

"Sorry, but no, she's not here."

Sasuke watched Jiraiya visibly deflate, letting out an exhausted sigh as they walked out of the gambling parlor and back onto the busy streets.

The town they were in was one none of them had paid particular attention too. If anything, Sasuke could say that it hadn't left enough of an impression for him to remember it's name. It was a fairly standard tourist trap, with lines of shops as far as the eye could see dotting the sides of the roads. Peddlers shouted at him from all sides, asking, no, practically begging him to buy some of their wares.

Like Jiraiya and Naruto in front of him, however, he ignored them. It was, after all, an act, one they put on to entice people too kind for their own good. In his own, personal opinion, it was a disgusting and foul practice, but judging how even he had the urge to stop and purchase something more than once, he couldn't deny it must've been effective for business.

Sasuke sighed as Jiraiya caught sight of a curvaceous woman walking a few meters ahead of him, and groaned when the woman, clearly marking him as an easy target, winked and gestured him over with a finger.

"Alright, you two, this is the moment I've been waiting for my entire life!" Jiraiya the 'Gallant' told them both, turning and reaching into Naruto's pocket, and coming up with his wallet. "Wish me luck, and eh… here." Jiraiya pulled a small sum of change out of the overstuffed frog. "Get us a room, but… Hehe…" The man laughed shadily. "Don't expect me back tonight."

"Right…" Naruto spoke, squinting up at the man with a clear distaste. "Just how much of that are you planning on spending, exactly?"

"Naruto, Naruto, Naruto…" Jiraiya spoke as if he were a hermit atop a mountain, wise beyond his years. The illusion faded the moment he cracked a crooked grin. "Money is no object to a Shinobi! You should be thanking me for relieving you of your burden!"

"Why are we paid for every mission, then?" Naruto spoke, deadpan. "I suppose it's to tempt us, so that we may grow even stronger?"

"Exactly, now you're getting it!" Jiraiya hopped on over to the woman, who had, seeing Jiraiya's fat wallet, pulled her blue dress down slightly, exposing even more of her voluptuous figure.

He and Naruto simply stared for a moment, almost in awe at how easily the famed 'Toad Sage' was tricked.

"500 yen says he's back within the hour." Sasuke muttered to his friend.

"Are you kidding?" Naruto responded, cackling. "1000 yen says he's back in 15 minutes!"

"And where is that yen magically coming from?" Sasuke reminded the boy. "He just took all of your money."

"Oh…"

There was a brief moment of silence as Naruto seemed to realize just how screwed over he'd been.

"Well shit."

/-/

Naruto collapsed down upon their bed for the night with an exhausted sigh, still lamenting the loss of all of his hard-earned mission money.

_I'm sorry, froggy! _Naruto sobbed inside his mind. _I couldn't protect you from that evil toad man!_

"Y'know I feel like normally, I'd say something like "You've only yourself to blame!" or something like that," Sasuke began, gazing over at him with abject pity. "But no, you just got screwed. That sucks."

"My moneeeey…" Naruto whined as he buried his face in his pillow, letting out a fake sob. A second later, he raised his head and looked back towards Sasuke, curious about something. "What do you do with your money, Sasuke?"

"What brought this on?" Sasuke inquired, eyeing him suspiciously. "Because if you're asking me to lend you some, then I'm sorry, but your track-record on that-"

"Agh, I get it, I get it!" Naruto shouted, not wanting to hear about how he _technically_ owed his friend about 8000 yen. "I'll pay you back… one of these days."

Sasuke merely glared at him.

"A-anyways, mind answering my question?"

"Don't think I'm forgetting about this." Sasuke growled under his breath, before taking a deep breath, choosing to let it go for the moment. "And I use them to buy ninja tools and things like that. Kunai, shuriken, they're not cheap, you know that."

"But surely that doesn't account for all your spending." Naruto spoke as he let his legs dangle off his bed. "I mean, I buy ninja tools and all that crap as well, and I was still able to save up enough to purchase a whole year's worth of ramen!"

Sasuke sighed, letting his head fall into his hands.

"You didn't think to, I don't know, upgrade your apartment or something?"

Naruto couldn't see why he'd want to do that over having an entire year filled with salty goodness but chose not to respond to the boy's comment anyways.

"So… what do you spend your money on?"

Sasuke glared at him some more, which as this point in their friendship might as well have been his default expression, before he let out a groan a second later, a small, almost absent blush coming to his face.

"I've been using my excess to… hire someone to go and clean around the Uchiha area of the village."

Naruto's eyes widened, receiving a far more depressing revelation than he'd been hoping for.

"Wait, you have to pay for it?" Naruto asked, feeling indignation swell up from his stomach. "I would've thought that the Third Hokage kept it in good condition!"

"He did, of course he did." Sasuke's words calmed Naruto's nerves slightly, but the way his face contorted told him that wasn't the full story. "Unfortunately, well… the Third Hokage can't actually come down and clean it himself, and the people who he hires to do it… well, they never do as good of a job as the place deserves."

"So you've been hiring someone to…"

"To come in and polish it all up, yeah." Sasuke brought his knees up in front of him, wrapping his arms around himself in a rare show of vulnerability. "It's a total waste of my money, and a waste of the cleaner's time, too. I get that there's no reason for it to look at all spiffy or anything but… but I can't stand the idea of my family's homes becoming some… old, decrepit ghost-town. I won't allow that to happen."

Naruto sighed, feeling a twinge of sadness inside his heart that he couldn't just ignore. Instead he decided he'd do the one thing he was best at.

Making light of a situation.

"Jeez, Sasuke." Naruto let out, faking a bit of annoyance. "Do you have to have some amazing, magnanimous goal for everything you do?"

Sasuke's glare really did carry some anger this time, and he sneered over at him as he let his legs fall back down off of the bed.

"That's a big word for you, magnanimous, where'd you hear it from?"

"Oh, making fun of my lack of big words now, are you?" Naruto harrumphed. "How original. I've never heard that before."

"Maybe if you'd actually learn one or two of them, I'd stop."

"Well, If you must know, I heard it from Pervy Sage a few days ago."

"There's no way he used the word 'magnanimous' in an actual sentence!"

"Actually, I'm fairly sure he's a writer. I see him writing in this little notebook all the time."

"Ah, so his obsession with big, needlessly complicated words is because he's a writer." Sasuke concluded. "I guess that makes sense, in an awfully stereotypical kind of way."

There was a moment of silence as they both contemplated what Naruto could only assume were very similar things.

"What would someone like him write, though?"

"Perhaps… it's best not to think about it." Sasuke added wisely. "That way lies only madness."

"Fair but firm."

There was a knock on the door a moment later, and Naruto looked to the clock on the back wall, trying to see who'd won their little bet.

"Hah!" Naruto shouted, looking back towards his friend with a victorious grin. "14 minutes. You owe me a thousand yen!"

"I never agreed to that though." Sasuke spoke with a sigh. "Well, whatever, I suppose it's fine. Gods know you need the money."

"Bet your ass I do, I'm poor now!" Naruto joked, walking over to the door and unlatching it. "Oi, Pervy Sage, you better not have spent all-"

His voice cut off as he got a look of the man stood before him. He was significantly shorter than Jiraiya, and his hair was black, as opposed to the older man's white. His eyes were fearsome as well, drawn down into an uncaring glare as he looked into the very depths of Naruto's soul. What really stood out to him, however, were the man's pupils.

They were Sharingan.

Naruto heard Sasuke let out an almost inhuman noise behind him and listened to the bed creak as the boy seemingly stood up.

"I… ta… chi." Sasuke's voice came out in a whisper, as if the boy were reliving every single experience he'd ever had with the man in front of him, who Naruto realized must have been his brother.

Naruto caught the older Uchiha's eyes widen, ever so slightly as they darted to Sasuke. A second later, however, they seemed to return to normal, as if what Naruto had seen was no more than an illusion.

From what Sasuke had told him about the man standing before him, it very well might've been.

"Well, I certainly didn't expect to see you here." Itachi Uchiha spoke apathetically, his eyes traveling from Naruto's knuckles on the door handle before him, which were rapidly becoming white, to Sasuke's own form, which seemed to tense more and more by the moment. "It's been an awfully long time."

"Yeah." Sasuke breathed out, a growl in the back of his throat as the sound of a thousand birds filled their tiny hotel room. "Too long."

The boy's teeth nearly cracked as he ground them together.

"Brother!"

**End Chapter 34**

* * *

**Bum-bum-bum!**

**Yeah, not the most shocking cliff-hanger, since this happens in canon, but hey, if it ain't broke.**

**Not a ton to say about this chapter. ******Zaku has a puppy crush. Well, less puppy, more crush.** Next one will obviously feature Itachi and Sasuke squaring off, but with Naruto and Sasuke's relationship, will it still go the same way it did in canon?**

**Oh, and about the Sakura curse mark thingy:**

**Obviously, in the show, Sakura doesn't have a curse mark. We only ever see Sasuke struggle with closing his curse mark the one time, the first time he really uses it, and even then, with some slight prodding from Sakura to stop, he's able to regain himself. But for Sakura, I feel like the thing she's always struggled the most in the show are her emotions, ranging from her feelings with Sasuke clouding her judgement to almost getting killed by him on the bridge during the Kage Summit arc as she knocks all her teammates out to "settle a score", and constantly wanting to catch up to Naruto and Sasuke's level.**

**And so I felt like playing those emotions up to 11 in this story, preventing her from acting rationally and keeping the curse mark out longer than she should. This is her flaw when using it. Obviously, the same way that Sasuke was able to circumvent his issues for a time, Sakura is also able to do this, thanks to her immaculate chakra control, which she can use to manually seal her curse mark. ****Of course, time will tell if that actually works in live combat.**

**This is a very long-winded way of saying that Sakura has different problems controlling the curse mark than Sasuke, for different reasons, and as such the curse mark will be represented on Sakura differently.  
**

**How much does any of what was just said matter? Eh... probably not a ton. But I feel like explaining myself now will prevent confusion in the future, so yeah.**

**See you all next week!**


	35. Chapter 35

**Nothing to say, Without further ado, let's go.**

* * *

**Chapter 35: The Last Dregs of Darkness  
**

* * *

The world around him wasn't real.

Sasuke knew that for certain without having to see those he'd once loved surrounding him, despite the fact that all of them were now nothing more than corpses. He narrowly avoided vomiting as he watched them all going about their daily routines, knowing nothing of what would befall them in mere moments.

Sasuke screamed, yet there was no noise. No, that wasn't true. He himself could hear the desperate shout, the cry for those around him to run away, but they clearly couldn't.

_"Of course, they can't." _A part of his mind, perhaps the only part of him that was still completely sane, echoed. _"This is merely an illusion. Don't lose yourself!"_

How could he not, though, as he heard the first sounds of combat, the telltale sound of metal carving through flesh, muscle, and bone as a body fell to the floor around him. He tried not to scream as his aunt and uncle shared one last embrace, before Itachi's blade ran through them both, spilling their blood upon the dirt below them, their bodies following suit a moment later.

Ten ninja, all Uchiha with their Sharingan's blazing, surrounded Itachi. He closed his eyes, curled into a ball, and sobbed quietly as he listened to their shrieks and cries, heard their corpses hit the earth like everyone else would that night.

_I wonder… what it was I did wrong?_

To Sasuke, it had never made sense. Why had his brother been some wild animal, barely concealed by human flesh? Why had his family been caught in his 'training'? Why had he been chosen to avenge them all?

Itachi had said it was because he could gain the Mangekyou Sharingan, so that he could challenge his brother when their eyes were the same…

_But so, what!? Why me, why me!?_

Sasuke screamed, though there was simply no point. It wasn't as if he thought that would break the illusion, or anything quite so powerful. He screamed simply because he was frightened, because he was enraged, and because he was powerless. He screamed because there was simply nothing else he could do.

Silently, as he watched those around him become pulp upon the earth, he thought he faintly heard a slithering, malevolent presence. A hand on his shoulder, bony and cold, seemed to reach out for his very soul.

It promised revenge, Itachi's death, assuredly. It promised a world where the Uchiha could have their names restored, and one in which their slaughter would be avenged.

He could faintly remember, three years ago, when he and Naruto had merely been two children desperate for companionship, this same hand trying to drag him back into the lonely darkness of his bedroom.

At the time, he had seen Naruto's offer as something ethereal. It had been too good to be true to him, and yet, looking back on it now, that only went to show just how far gone he'd once been. Naruto had been a small boy bereft of a friend, one which he'd desperately sought, despite pretending that he wanted nothing less.

At the time, he'd seen him almost as a savior.

That wasn't fair to the boy, as he'd realized very quickly. Naruto was as much a savior as he was an annoying, loudmouthed brat, one without much common sense, nor an ounce of self-control. That hadn't made him any less essential to Sasuke's recovery, despite what the other kids might've said about him.

That hadn't made him any less than Sasuke's closest friend.

Yet he found his own hand drifting towards his shoulder, wanting to interlock his fingers with that of the darkness surrounding him, wanting to once more dive in. Having been reminded of what it was Itachi had done, having once more seen it with his eyes, he wanted to avenge his family now more than ever.

_I'm sorry, Naruto, everyone…_

His hand slid up his right shoulder, brushing up against the cold corpses hand, and grabbing on to its pointer finger.

_But Itachi has to die, and…_

His hand interlocked with that of the darkness, and with a sharp tug that nearly pulled his arm out of his socket, he felt himself be dragged upon the dirt of the Uchiha's main road, towards his family's home.

_And I love you all, but…_

In an instant, far faster than it should've taken, he'd been brought to the Uchiha manor, been brought around it into the yard behind, and brought onto the edge of the pier, the same place he'd practiced and learned how to use the Fireball Jutsu.

_But to kill him…_

This was where the hand originated from, the very depths of the lake. The cold, unfeeling dark below, where not even direct sunlight could shine. He allowed the hand to pull him, allowed it to drag him off of the pier, and didn't resist as he hit the water.

_To kill him…_

The water wasn't cold. Nor was it warm. It seemed almost nonexistent, and yet, even still, he felt as if he were drowning. He felt as if the Sasuke Uchiha who'd become friends with Naruto, and Sakura, and Ino, and had grown to respect Kakashi, and the Third Hokage, who'd come to know the world as something brighter, would soon cease to be.

_To kill him, I'd do any– _

"SASUKE!?"

His eyes snapped open, and he inhaled a gulp full of water as he struggled to comprehend the voice he'd just heard. Panic shot through him as he saw his vision go blurry, felt his lungs constrict within him. There was an intense pain in his shoulder at two points, as if he'd been stabbed with a knife, and he felt as if he could feel blades there, intangible, yet still present.

_Naruto!?_

He couldn't breathe, and yet he needed to. He tried to swim upwards, back to the surface of the water, but the hand on his shoulder seemed to clamp down, constricting his very bones as it held onto him. He reached for a kunai from out of his bag, but the moment he did, another set of skeletal hands came from out of the deep, grasping him and holding him fast as they allowed the now open tool bag to spill out its contents.

He watched with panic as his many tools, kunai, shuriken, and a few scrolls, floated in the water, sinking steadily, far beyond his reach. He tried to fight against the fact that he was drowning, even as he coughed, and water filled his lungs.

_I… Naruto… I'm sorry. But… but who I am now can't kill Itachi. I don't have a choice…_

_Please, forgive me…_

His vision faded, and he sank into the murky depths.

…

_"I think you're lying. I don't think you care whether or not you live or die. You think that Sasuke Uchiha, the quiet boy who used to sit in the back of our class those years ago, died when the rest of his clan did. I think that right now, The Sasuke Uchiha in front of me is living for the sole purpose of killing Itachi… and y'know what, that's terrifying for me. My best friend doesn't even care about his own life."_

_Ah__… This is when Naruto told me off for acting so self-centered. Heh__… Always looking after me__… Worrying about me__… _

_"Then tell me I'm wrong, Sasuke… Because honestly, I'd love it if I was."_

_What was it that I said to him? I've forgotten___… __

_"You're wrong."_

He felt as if his heart had been carved out with a knife. His eyes couldn't see, and yet he felt them open. He could no longer breathe, and yet it felt as if his lungs had air once more. His hands were held within the tendrils of the monster below, and yet he felt like they eased up, like he could move.

_I can't give up… _

Everything hurt as he drew his hand in front of him, looking down into his palm, even if his vision was still far too blurry to truly see.

_I promised Naruto…_

He focused hard, as hard as he ever had, on bringing chakra into that palm, allowing it to become lightning.

_That I'd find a reason to live for myself!_

Sasuke opened his mouth, and screamed, with all the remaining might inside him, one simple word.

"CHIDORI!"

For several seconds, agony was all that he could comprehend.

Lightning traveled through the water, electrocuting him and the arms behind him. It was far stronger than it had any right to be, and he had a feeling that was because of the illusory nature of this world. Still, he couldn't let up. The hands hadn't yet let go.

His body seized up, and the pain became unbearable as he siphoned even more chakra into his right hand. He felt his heart stop, felt his flesh stop responding to him, and yet, for some reason, his Jutsu, the manifestation of his will, wouldn't stop.

No, it was more accurate to say that it refused to stop.

He let out what he could only describe as a roar as he opened his mouth, a guttural, nearly inhuman noise caught halfway between a scream and a laugh.

_I won't fall into the murk! I'll go back! I'll see my friends once more!_

_You won't defeat me, Itachi! Not here!_

With those words, the hands holding onto him tore at their wrists, and he forced his body to move. He swam upwards, even as the surface of the water began to glow with a faint, golden hue, as if the sun were directly above him, hovering in mid-air.

He held his hand out, a smile on his face as his Sharingan spun into being. His vision cleared up, and he felt his heart begin to beat once more.

Not as if such a thing truly mattered in an illusion.

As his right hand breached the surface, so too did his vision distort. It began as a single crack, but as if the world itself was becoming undone, it spread, until the very universe shattered, and he was back inside of he and Naruto's hotel, pinned against the back wall of a hallway, with his brother holding him aloft with one hand.

Itachi, however, seemed perplexed.

"You actually broke free." His brother's tone was calm, but the edge that had previously been there was gone, replaced instead by…

If he were more foolish, he might've thought it pride.

"Kisame, I believe I told you not to let the Jinchuuriki interfere."

"Well, I didn't let him interfere, I can't exactly stop him from shouting or throwing things, now can I?"

Sasuke looked up towards Naruto, and nearly fainted as his eyes widened.

Naruto was beaten and bloody, with cuts and bruises running up and down his broken body. Itachi's partner, Kisame, had him over his shoulder, handling the boy like a bag of rice.

The thing that struck him the most, however, was that the boy wasn't moving.

He tried to move his right hand, to reignite Chidori in his palm, but pain shot up the limb before he could. He looked down, at his right shoulder, and found there to be 2 shuriken piercing his body.

"Your… friend threw those, trying to get me away from you, I imagine." Itachi taunted him, looking back over at Naruto, and smiling in an oddly serene way. It infuriated Sasuke to no end. "It's good to see you've made such great friends."

Rage filled him.

"I'll kill you!" Sasuke seethed, practically speaking through his teeth. "I'll make sure you know the pain and suffering you made our entire clan endure before it's over!"

"I'm sure you will." Itachi spoke casually, before punching him once more in the chest, forcing blood and mucus to spill out of Sasuke's mouth. "But you'll have to be a bit stronger than this."

Black spots filled his vision, and this time, he feared they weren't the illusory kind he could shrug off with sheer willpower. He attempted to keep his eyes open, desperately fighting against his own exhaustion as he fell upon the floor. His brother's Mangekyou had not been kind, and even now, he could still feel some of the residual effects wreaking havoc upon his internal systems.

He tried to force himself to stand, to force his body to move, just how he'd done back inside his brother's illusion, but it wouldn't respond, wouldn't let him surpass his limits as he'd done before.

He let out a pitiful groan as he reached out, trying to crawl across the ground to where Naruto was.

"Still, why'd you go easy, Itachi?" Kisame, his brother's partner, called out to him. "I've never seen anyone break out of one of your illusions before, what, feelin' a bit of brotherly affection?"

Sasuke didn't see the look Itachi gave the man, but whatever it was, it was enough for Kisame to take a step back, and raise his left arm, the one not holding Naruto, up in the air, in a playful gesture of surrender.

"Joking, joking." The shark-like man laughed, smiling in a way that showed off each and every one of his sharpened teeth. "I swear, you're never any fun."

"We are here to take the Jinchuuriki, nothing more. That does not require you to embarrass yourself with a failed comedy routine."

The two ninja began walking away, Itachi stepping over Sasuke's body without a care in the world, not even sparing a look back at his brother.

"Ouch, and here I thought you couldn't emote at all, but lo and behold, I've nearly cut myself upon that edge."

"W-wait!" Sasuke shouted, or, well, he tried to shout. His actual voice came out as more of a desperate whine. "Stop… don't…"

Itachi, surprisingly enough, did stop, though it was only to look back at Sasuke with a look of disappointment.

"And for what reason should I stop, foolish little brother?"

He didn't really have anything. All he could do now was buy time. Time in which he hoped a savior would come to bail them out.

And he had one particular ninja in mind.

"Because you're about to be captured by yours truly, that's why!"

Hope surged through him as he looked up. He let his head hit the carpeted floor below him as he breathed an immense sigh of relief.

Jiraiya was back.

Itachi and Kisame, to Sasuke's astonishment, took a step back. It seemed that they knew who it was they were facing, but even still…

_Seeing actual threats like these two back up in the face of… him…_

Jiraiya smiled widely, a cocky look that told everyone in the room, no, more proclaimed to them, that he was in charge. It was only now, that he was able to relax, that Sasuke realized he had the same woman from earlier, the one in the far too skimpy blue dress, draped across his back, in almost the same way Kisame was holding Naruto.

He also got a fairly intimate knowledge of the woman's panties, as the underside of said skimpy outfit was on display for the world to see. He tried not to focus on that, but he was a twelve year-old boy with some emotional trauma to work through, he'd take just about anything he could get to keep him sane at the moment.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" Jiraiya took a step forward, drawing chakra into his palms which was visible even from Sasuke's distance. "A couple of Akatsuki lurking around, trying to kidnap my student?"

_Akatsuki?_

"Jiraiya of the Sannin." Kisame spoke, smirking as he hefted his massive sword across his left shoulder. "So, I suppose our little decoy wasn't so useful, ey?"

"As if someone of my caliber would fall for such a trick." Jiraiya spoke calmly, pretending as if such a trick hadn't fooled him less than half an hour ago. "You'd need something far stronger than that!"

"Shall we skedaddle, old buddy?"

"Keep ahold of the Jinchuuriki, we're not to lose him." Itachi informed the ex-mist ninja, taking a step backwards.

"I don't think so!" Jiraiya spoke, slamming his left hand onto the ground below him. "Summoning Jutsu: Toad Mouth Trap!"

Itachi motioned for Kisame to follow behind him, running backwards towards a dead-end as the former began creating hand-signs. Sasuke didn't recognize them, but whatever they were for, it must've been extreme, for he couldn't remember the last time his brother had been forced to utilize hand-signs at all.

It took a moment, as Itachi passed by him, and Kisame was only a step away from doing the same, for Sasuke to realize the severity of the situation. In the man's arms lie his best friend. He knew not why they needed the Jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox, but he could hazard a guess that it might not have been the best for Naruto's health.

He acted without really thinking. His hand fired out like a bullet, latching onto the leg of the hidden mist Jonin and holding on as hard as he could. As the man attempted to take another step, Sasuke's weight just barely managed to keep him still.

Unfortunately, he could hold the ninja for only a scant second. The moment Kisame concentrated, he pulled him along with him, swinging Sasuke around on his leg like a fish on a line. With one final motion, he was sent flying into the wall ahead of them, landing on the ground with a wracking cough.

"I must say, Itachi, I like your brother a lot more than you." Kisame's voice was filled with a smugness that irritated him to no end. "He's got some serious guts, not to mention that whole revenge-filled-rage thing he's got going for him. I'm pretty intrigued, I've gotta' say!"

"Quiet your delusions and get over here, we're going."

"Right, right." Kisame sighed. "I swear, you really do take all the fun out of things."

Sasuke's brain moved at a mile a minute. It tried with all its might, every fiber of its being to think of some way, any way, that he could save Naruto from these people.

_I just need him to stop… _Sasuke thought, thinking of Kisame. _Just for a moment… just to buy time for Jiraiya…_

_He has to stop; I must make him stop._

His eyes widened as his Sharingan spun into being. There was no moment for him to hesitate. There wasn't even a moment to really think about what he intended to do. He simply knew what had to be done. Much like he'd stopped Naruto and Gaara when the two had lost themselves to their tailed beasts, now he had to do the same to Kisame.

This time, however, It was to a missing ninja, one that, if he was standing beside Itachi, and bantering with him playfully, was likely frighteningly powerful.

_It doesn't matter. _

_I have to save him._

Those words echoed in Sasuke's mind like a mantra. His eyes seemed to radiate power, power that he'd only really felt when the boy was in danger like this. Now he just needed to get Kisame to face him.

Compared to what came next, that was fairly simple.

"Get back here!" He shouted, spittle flying from his mouth as he gave himself a headache. "Itachi!"

If he were right about the personality of the shark-skinned man, then he would do something like sneer, turn around, and make one last joke at Sasuke's expense. A moment later, that very same sequence of events began.

"Y'know, Itachi, I don't see how-"

The moment Kisame's eyes met his, Sasuke felt a near blinding pain shoot through his spine, all the way through his body, and down to the tips of his toes. He barely held himself up with his arms, despite the screaming of his entire right side, and more specifically, his shoulder, which was still bleeding from where Naruto had accidentally struck him earlier. Even still, the most important thing now was that he didn't break eye-contact.

This feeling was worse than when he'd stopped Naruto and Gaara. If anything, he'd compare it to when Itachi had first cast his Mangekyou Genjutsu upon him, in their family's ceremony room all those years back.

"Oi, Itachi!" Kisame spoke through his teeth, barely able to move, yet somehow still managing to talk with relative ease. "Your brother's really not half bad!"

"Don't tell me you need my assistance?" Itachi called back from the end of the hall, where he'd just cast an odd sort of black flame on the wall of the toad's mouth, burning away the flesh with nary a thought.

"Nah, I'm good, I'm good."

agony traveled through his veins like fire as the man in front of him began to move. To Sasuke's immense dismay, there was no Ninjutsu or Genjutsu that allowed the man to break free. It was pure, brute strength.

"I'm coming, kid!" Jiraiya shouted out, wrenching his hands free of the frog's flesh and running towards him, already building to another jutsu as he formed sign after sign in his hands. "Fire Style: Flame Bullet!"

The fire did, indeed, blaze to life, gunning towards Kisame and Itachi as the caster rounded the corner. Unfortunately, just as it was about to hit, Sasuke's line of sight was broken by the flames, and the ex-mist ninja was freed.

"Water Style: Shark Bomb!"

The two jutsu collided in the middle of the hallway, exploding and causing a massive blast of steam to push both he and Jiraiya backwards a foot or two.

His own head hit the floor, and he nearly passed out right then and there. He still couldn't, though, not until he'd saved Naruto. He dragged himself forward with just his left hand, barely managing to gain a single inch in doing so.

"You're not getting away!" Jiraiya shouted, forming more seals with his hands. Unfortunately for him, Itachi was in the mix now, turning around and answering Jiraiya's second fireball with one that dwarfed it, encompassing the entire space and threatening to overtake the both of them.

"Kid!" Jiraiya turned, blocking the flames from hitting him.

"Forget about me!" Sasuke shouted, his voice far weaker than he'd wanted it to come out as. "Please, save Naruto!"

"Workin' on it, kid!"

His teeth ground together, and he tried to force himself to stand up. His legs however, had other plans, for they would neither stand, nor even push themselves forward. They weren't broken, he had a feeling he'd know if they were, but they clearly weren't responding to him. He imagined that was a mixture of exhaustion from breaking out of Itachi's illusion, and from being beaten by him in their fight earlier.

"Well, it's been fun and all, but we really will be late if we stick around much longer." Kisame taunted from the edge of the new hole they'd made in the side of the building, giving a two-fingered salute as he made to jump out. "Toodaloo!"

He'd tried to use his Genjutsu again , but all he'd received was a pain too intense for him to focus under, and he'd nearly instantly been forced to the floor again. Sasuke's hand shot out, as if trying to grasp the man from his position on the hotel floor.

A glint in the distance had his eyes widening. It grew in size, coming right for them at an incredible speed.

And…

_Is it… shouting?_

"Dynamiiiiiic…."

Kisame's eyes widened slightly, and he turned back around, only to be kicked in the face by a flying, green skin-tight-suit-wearing man with a bowl-cut.

"ENTRY!"

Kisame, through some miracle of raw strength, managed to stay standing after being hit by a veritable meteorite of a hit. The man did, however, momentarily lower his guard, allowing the newest arrival to grab at Naruto, hoist him off of the shark's shoulder, and jump back.

"Sorry I'm late, Jiraiya!"

"Late?" Jiraiya seemed bewildered. "I never asked for you to come."

"Hmph." Guy laughed under his breath, wagging his finger back and forth towards the white-maned giant. "It was not what you said, but what you didn't say that tipped me off!"

"Oookay, sure." Jiraiya apparently gave up. "We certainly appreciate the assistance."

Guy smirked, handing Naruto over to Jiraiya and taking a battle stance, facing Kisame with one hand in the air.

"Do you wish to duel, stranger? I can guarantee that you won't be getting past me!"

Kisame simply sighed, rubbing his cheek with one hand as if, instead of taking a kick with the force of a train behind it, he'd merely been slapped by a scornful lover.

"Nah, I'm outta' time. Oh well, I suppose I'll get a scolding from my boss later." Kisame waved as he hopped out of the building, before, seemingly coming to a realization mid-air, he shouted back at them, voice rapidly fading. "Wait, what do you mean stranger!?"

Guy dropped his stance and turned back towards Jiraiya.

"Should we pursue?"

"Nah, no point." Jiraiya let out an angry sigh. "I've been tracking the Akatsuki for a while, ever since Orochimaru was a member. They're a den of foxes. Honestly, we'd probably lose them before they even got out of the city, not to mention that'd put these two in danger again." He added, gesturing towards him and Naruto. "We'll hold off for now. I wouldn't mind if you could send a message back to the Leaf, though. If there's anything Root's good for, it's intel. Have them get all they can on those two."

"Roger that." Guy spoke, before, with a small frown, he turned back towards Jiraiya. "Actually, I knew Itachi Uchiha, but who was that other man?"

"Wait," Jiraiya spoke confusedly, turning back to the green beast of the leaf with a disbelieving expression. "Didn't you fight him not two days ago? You don't know who he is?"

"Not a clue."

Sasuke sighed, letting his head hit the ground, and breathing such a harsh sigh of relief that he felt his lungs actively constrict afterwards.

_Looks like everything's alright. _Sasuke thought with a smile.

He passed out not a second later.

/-/

Naruto came to slowly, briefly flinching away from the bright light of the sun hanging overhead.

He was disoriented, even if a small piece of him in the back of his mind told him something was up.

_Now… what was it…?_

He tried to move his body, and was immediately met by a flash of agony, Torn muscles and cracked bones threatening mutiny against him if he didn't hold still.

_Ah, right. _Naruto remembered. _Those two._

He winced as he forced himself to sit up, ignoring the way his body practically revolted against him, and looked around. The last thing he could remember was… was that bastard holding Sasuke against the wall, holding him in some terrible illusion. His friend had screamed, cried, begged to be let lose, and the man hadn't so much as flinched.

Just thinking about it had Naruto's blood boiling, and he had to reach down and still his right hand to stop it from shaking.

Sasuke's brother… he really was as bad as the boy had told him.

He'd had his doubts, if he were being brutally honest. Hearing that a man had killed his entire clan just because he could and had suddenly thought "hey, why not?" one day wasn't exactly the easiest thing to believe, not to mention Sasuke directly stating that he'd challenged him to a future duel, when he'd killed his best friend and obtained the same eyes as him. It was kind of difficult to believe someone that evil actually existed.

_Well, surprise, surprise I guess. _Naruto groaned, massaging his lower back and letting his breaths come out in short, pained bursts. _Sorry I doubted you, Sasuke. Your brother really is the worst human being to ever live._

"Ah, you're up."

Naruto turned towards the voice, sighing in relief when he saw Jiraiya, and not Kisame and Itachi. That would've been a far more awkward conversation than his aching muscles and burning blood were in any real mood for.

Still, best to take things one step at a time.

"Where's Sasuke!?" Naruto's voice came out slightly more panicky than he'd hoped, and he clamped down on his own worry as embarrassment hit him. "S-sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Hah, no worries, kid. He's passed out over there." Jiraiya pointed towards a tree about ten feet from them, and sure enough, Naruto could just make out the outline of a boy's arm and leg sticking out from behind the bark. "He's… exhausted is probably underselling it. I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't wake up today."

"Is he alright?"

"Better than he has any right to be, at the very least. His brother didn't exactly go easy on him. He's got a few fractures in the rib area from where his brother kneed him, his right shoulder's injured pretty badly from where you hit him with your shuriken, and he's probably suffering from some mental feedback as well, expect him to be kind of out of it when he does wake up."

Naruto coughed uncomfortably, trying to ignore his own contributions to his best friend's injury list.

"T-that's not great."

"No, obviously not, but like I said, it probably should've been worse."

Jiraiya sat down in front of him, offering a small flask filled with what looked to be water. Naruto squinted at him for half a second before reaching out and taking it, inspecting the bottle, sniffing the liquid inside and, after finally determining that it wasn't alcoholic, downing the entire bottle in a matter of moments.

"Way to show trust in your mentor." Jiraiya glared at him. "As if I'd offer alcohol to a damned twelve-year-old!"

"You left the both of us on our own earlier today just to hit on a chick!"

"And that was entirely different!"

"You stole all of my money!"

"Correction!" Jiraiya brought out Naruto's froggy wallet from inside of his coat, notably deflated compared to how engorged it'd been this morning. "I stole _half _your money."

Naruto shot the man a death glare, which had no real effect, given that he was a small, young Genin, giving the stink-eye to one of the most powerful Shinobi on the continent.

"Anyways, as I was saying, Sasuke's wounds should've probably been worse. He managed to shake off his brother's first grab, preventing him from having a broken wrist to add on to the rest of his injuries, not to mention from what Itachi said, he actually managed to break free of the illusion as well." Jiraiya rubbed his chin with his fingers, seemingly deep in thought. "Which doesn't make much sense, given that just a few days ago he kept Kakashi in an illusion with barely any effort at all."

"Maybe Sasuke's just that strong?"

"Yeah, definitely, he's just stronger than Kakashi of the Sharingan, Copy wheel Kakashi, the Hero of the Sharingan Kakashi. Yep, tiny little Uchiha kid, definitely more powerful than-"

"Alright, I get it, I get it! No need to be an asshole."

"If I didn't know Itachi, I'd have almost said he was holding back out of some kinship with his brother, but, well… he wouldn't have done any of that if he really cared."

Naruto's eyes widened briefly, and he looked up to his mentor with what he thought was a pretty good idea.

"Maybe he was testing Sasuke's eyes!"

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, a visual cue for Naruto to keep talking.

"I mean, we know he wants to duel them when-" He put on his best Itachi Uchiha impression. ""Our eyes are the same." Or whatever kind of garbage he thinks. Isn't it possible that he was holding back to see how far Sasuke had progressed?"

Jiraiya's eyes widened minutely, and he nodded for a second before smiling down at Naruto, an honest to goodness impressed expression on his face.

"Not a bad theory, kid. I think it's about as good as we're going to get, too, given that we can't exactly ask Itachi what he meant by it." Jiraiya stood up, offering a hand to Naruto. "We're going to set up camp in a bit, stop here for the night and continue once sleeping beauty gets up. But, I thought that in the meantime, I could show you a pretty nifty Jutsu."

Naruto's eyes lit up, and he felt energy course through him. He made to stand, only for his legs to officially declare their withdrawal from the Naruto union, leaving him to flop gracelessly onto the grassy dirt beneath him.

He tried not to blush as Jiraiya cackled at him.

"Well, I suppose the Nine-Tails wouldn't work that fast when Samehada was the thing that hit you."

"Samehada?" Naruto questioned, digging his face out of the dirt and looking up at his teacher, puzzled. "What's that?"

"Ah, right, Samehada is the blade of that guy, Kisame. It's one of the Seven Swords of the mist village."

Naruto tilted his head to the side, briefly confused.

"They've only got seven swords?"

Jiraiya slapped a hand against his face.

"Y'know what, yeah, sure. That's one of the only seven swords the mist village has. You've encountered one of the others before, Zabuza's Executioner's sword."

"Oh, I get it. So, they're… special swords?"

"Oh, thank god, I was beginning to think you really were that stupid."

"Oi!"

"Anyways, yes, they're special swords. Zabuza's, for instance, reconstitutes itself using the iron in blood. If it breaks, it can rebuild itself by killing others. Samehada, on the other hand, saps chakra from anything it hits, and uses that chakra to recharge that of it's wielder. Kisame Hoshigaki is perhaps the most adept user of the sword there's ever been. In a straight one-on-one, there aren't a lot of people in the world who could beat him."

Naruto absorbed that information as best he could, but there was one burning question in the back of his mind.

"Could you? Beat him, I mean."

Jiraiya's eyes widened, clearly not having expected the question.

"Hmm… I think I could, yeah. Kisame's good at taking care of targets around his size, people who can't summon giant monsters or have ways of regenerating their chakra." Jiraiya pointed to himself proudly. "I happen to have both."

"Regenerating your chakra?" Naruto's face scrunched up. "How do you do that?"

"Well, I guess I'm not really regenerating it, in my case, but I can gather more through an art called Sage Mode. I believe I discussed this with you and that Sakura girl before."

That did ring a bell for Naruto.

"Yeah, but… didn't you say you had to stand still for gathering natural energy to work?"

"Ah, yes, but Naruto, tell me something, when you're riding on top of Gamaken, for instance, are you doing any moving, or are you just using chakra to keep yourself steady?"

Naruto briefly thought about that, before a smile came to his face, and he felt a bit of awe for the man in front of him finally surface.

"So, you get to use the upsides of this sage mode thingy, without having any of the downsides!?"

"Well, not without any, it still requires a massive amount of concentration, but you get it without a lot of them, yeah. Unfortunately, I was never actually that good at Sage Mode myself."

Naruto's eyes became comically wide.

"Wait, you're telling me that _you, _the Toad **_Sage_**_, _have problems using **_Sage _**mode?"

Jiraiya glared rather fiercely at him.

"Perhaps."

"Oh my god."

"You shut up! And here I was, ready to teach you a super-powerful A-rank Jutsu, but I suppose I'll just hold onto it," Jiraiya, in perhaps the least adult thing Naruto had ever seen out of him, seemed to actually be pouting. "Not like my student wants to learn anything from the failed Sage."

"Oh, fine, I apologize." Naruto sighed. "There, happy?"

"Not particularly, but I suppose it'll have to do."

"What's this Jutsu called, anyways?"

"Heh." Jiraiya snickered, looking over at Naruto with an odd sort of smile. It seemed oddly nostalgic, as if he were looking past him.

"It's called 'Rasengan'."

**End Chapter 35**

* * *

**And here we are, at the end of the chapter!**

**I have like... literally nothing to say this week. I'm not sure if there is anything, really.**

**Oh right, Sasuke's entire character arc...**

**Meh, I'll talk about it later. It's obviously not over, but he's made his decision. He's not going to abandon his friends, not for anything.**

**I'll be taking next week off for Christmas, so chapter 36 will come out on the 31st of December. Cool beans, Cool beans.**

**See you all later!**


	36. Chapter 36

**And into the Tsunade Arc we go!**

**Something, something... Without further ado.**

* * *

**Chapter 36: The Final Sannin**

* * *

Sasuke's eyes fluttered open slowly, expecting to have to adjust to the sunlight above him, but instead finding himself in the middle of a patch of shade.

A patch of shade that was thanks in large part to Naruto hovering over him, a goofy grin on his face that seemed entirely inappropriate for what they'd just gone through.

"You're awake!"

That seemed fairly obvious to Sasuke, and he couldn't suppress the sigh he let out a second later, trying to sit himself up. He was greeted almost immediately with an intense ache, both from his right arm, which near instantly collapsed beneath him, and then by his ribs, which cried out as he landed on them.

"Ow." He commented rather uselessly.

"Um, right," Naruto spoke up awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I should've probably started with this, but Itachi managed to re-fracture your ribs, and you've got a pretty severe wound going up your right shoulder. It's advised that you move as little as possible. Once we find Tsunade, Pervy Sage is going to get her to heal you up."

_Well, I guess I can't really complain about that. _Sasuke groaned, trying to ignore the way his chest flared up in pain every time he took a breath. _Still, the sooner the better on this Tsunade character._

"And what will I be doing in that time?"

Naruto scratched the side of his head.

"Erm… well, Jiraiya said you should be resting."

"I suppose you know me well enough to know my response to that?" Sasuke asked with a tiny grin.

"Eh, decently well enough, yeah." Naruto let out a breathy laugh. "Jiraiya should be back sooner or later, you can tell him all this then."

"Right."

The next hour passed slowly, Sasuke doing his best not to focus on the way his breathing was strained, or on how whenever he moved his right arm, it felt like he was digging into it with a fishhook. He narrowly managed to push himself into a sitting position by leaning against the tree behind him.

Unfortunately, while doing this, he'd gotten some pollen in his nose, and couldn't quite manage to hold back a sneeze.

He'd very nearly cried from how much that'd hurt.

It wasn't for another half an hour that Jiraiya arrived back in their tiny encampment, and by that time, the residual aches of his restless body had taken away any and all gratitude he'd still had for the man for saving them.

"You're late." Sasuke hissed out through his teeth, glaring daggers at the Sage. "Naruto said you'd be back 'soon' an hour and a half ago!"

"Funny how that works, sometimes you take a bit longer than you expect to." Jiraiya was, apparently, having none of his shit. "Didn't I save your ass not twenty-four hours ago? Quite frankly, you owe me one and then some." Jiraiya looked down at him, squinting like he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. "And you're supposed to be resting! What the hell are you doing sitting up on your own!?"

Sasuke coughed, avoiding eye contact in some bid to avoid a deserved lecture. Seeing his expression, Jiraiya simply sighed, before walking over to Naruto.

"Until we can meet up with Tsunade, kid over there is out for the count with his injuries. Keep him from standing or doing anything that could aggravate his wounds, got it?"

Naruto nodded, entirely serious for one of the rare moments in his life.

"I don't just want to sit still while you two have this training camp!" Sasuke complained, not quite leaning forward, but certainly trying to. "Isn't there anything you could do!?"

"Yeah, it's 'get Tsunade'." Jiraiya deadpanned. "Kid, your injuries might be pretty bad, but that woman could heal them in the span of twenty minutes, maybe less if we're being honest."

Sasuke sighed, accepting that even if wasn't particularly satisfying.

"Is there anything I can do in the meantime?"

The old man considered that for a moment, rubbing his chin with one hand as he seemingly tried to work something out.

"Well, you could practice that Genjutsu of yours."

Sasuke's eyes widened minutely. He vaguely remembered Zabuza calling the same technique a Genjutsu when he'd used back on the bridge to stop Naruto. If Jiraiya of the Sannin was confirming it… well, he wasn't going to doubt the man on that.

"I… I suppose I could try and learn more about it." He flinched slightly as he tried to reach for the feeling it caused, but it was like putting on a blindfold and sticking your hand into a pit of needles, hoping to find a single piece of hay. "It's… I've tried to use it outside of combat before, but nothing ever comes of it."

"Well, of course." Jiraiya reasoned easily, sitting down in front of him and gesturing for Naruto to do the same. "Simply put, that Genjutsu is beyond your current abilities."

"What?"

"Ok, so, tell me if this sounds familiar." Jiraiya cleared his throat. "You're at the end of your rope against an opponent you can't beat. You're about to die, or someone close to you is, and you reach deep within yourself to find something, anything, that could save them." Jiraiya gestured to the back of his head. "For you, I think it might be a pain in the back of your skull, probably coming from your visual cortex trying to overload your Sharingan. The next thing you know, though, you're using some super advanced Genjutsu, yay, everything's solved."

_That…_

_Wasn't entirely inaccurate._

"How'd you know?" Sasuke asked, not suspicious, but more curious.

"Kid, you're not the only person to ever surpass their limits in a pinch, we ninja do it all the time. I myself haven't done it much recently, but I used to all the time when I was a kid in the middle of a war-zone. You do whatever you can to keep your friends alive."

Sasuke nodded, accepting that without much trouble.

"So… how do I go practicing an ability that I have no idea how to access?"

Jiraiya raised his pointer finger, as if to proclaim rather easily how to do an impossible task, and then visibly deflated a second later.

"Well, do you remember where you generally access the ability from?"

"My… eyes?"

"I meant more like… what part of your head hurts, or where do your eyes feel the most focused, something like that." Jiraiya gestured once more to the point at the back of his skull. "Like I said, the obvious point for the pain would be the visual cortex. Feel around, see if that's where the pain usually originates from."

Sasuke did as asked, poking the underside of his skull, inspecting the area to try and recognize the feeling he usually experienced. It took perhaps thirty seconds for his eyes to widen minutely.

"Here, just like you said."

He had to admit to some surprise. He sometimes forgot that Jiraiya was a world-renowned ninja, widely regarded as one of the strongest to ever live, when he was traipsing around town, stealing the wallets of small children, and using that money to go and get himself too drunk to stand.

"I guess even you can do it if you try, huh?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!?" The Toad Sage berated him, before sighing and sitting down on the ground. "Well, anyways, I'm afraid in this particular matter I'm not going to be much help. Genjutsu was never really my forte."

"What is?" Sasuke felt like asking, wanting to know a bit more about the so-called 'legend' in front of him.

"Ninjutsu, particularly summoning Jutsu's, though, then again, I guess that goes for all three of us."

_The Sannin… _Sasuke caught on to the man's insinuation. _So Tsunade can summon a giant just like the other two?_

"Whereas Tsunade was good at the medical side of Jutsu, and Orochimaru was gifted in creating and iterating on jutsu, I was always more on the… I suppose you'd call it the battle-side of Jutsu. I learned to throw big fire-balls, summon giant frogs who were good at killing things, and just in general blew a lot of crap up."

Jiraiya stroked his chin for a moment, seemingly realizing something.

"Y'know, looking back, I think the fact that none of us use Genjutsu might come back to Ol' Hiruzen. He never really taught us any, and if my memories can still be trusted, I think I can count the number of times he ever bothered using any on one hand."

"None of you? Really?" Naruto rejoined the conversation, having been poking a small toad that was sitting on a nearby tree branch. "I mean, it's one of the three big kinds of Jutsu, right? I thought it'd be… I don't know… used more?"

"Really comes down to the nature of the art on that one, kid." The Older man exclaimed. "Genjutsu is a tough son of a bitch to learn, to practice, and to utilize. I mean, you can't really practice Genjutsu without someone to practice it on, in the first place, so unless you've got a knack for it naturally, chances are you won't be able to get better at it using traditional training methods."

_Makes sense, I suppose. _Sasuke nodded along. _Then… does that mean Itachi was always that good with Genjutsu?_

It was a frightening thought.

"Then, to even utilize Genjutsu, you've essentially gotta' use it in a one on one environment. An advanced Genjutsu… and by that I mean a normal advanced Genjutsu, not one of those crazy ones your brother's able to use, can at any time be canceled out by someone around the victim being flooded with external chakra." Jiraiya shrugged his shoulders. "Not to mention, there aren't a lot of people who want to devote ten years of their life to learning how to trick someone into killing themselves, when you could learn how to kill them yourself in a month, maybe less."

Sasuke couldn't help but wilt slightly.

_Did he forget I was trying to learn a Genjutsu here? _Sasuke laughed quietly. _Not exactly the most inspiring speech about them. _

"But you're different."

Sasuke's eyes opened widely as Jiraiya turned on him, a small smirk on his face.

"You've got the aptitude for it. I don't think it's a stretch to say you're not as good at it as your brother is, but that shouldn't mean anything. If you're a prodigy at this stuff, then Itachi Uchiha would be a prodigy among prodigy's, perhaps the strongest Genjutsu user this world's seen since the age of the warring states, and hell, even then, he might still be stronger than the old legends." Jiraiya gave him a light pat on the shoulder, which shot a spark of pain through his right arm. "It wouldn't do to measure yourself against him when it comes to Genjutsu. Learn them at your own pace, and find things you yourself specialize in."

Sasuke let out an indignant breath, letting his head lean against the bark behind him as he tried to let the man's words wash over him.

_I don't need you to tell me how special Itachi is. _Sasuke complained mentally. _Trust me, I'm aware._

_…Still, I guess his advice isn't terrible. But… what exactly is it that I excel at?_

_I guess I could always ask._

"Uh, Naruto?"

"Yo?"

It was a bit awkward to come out and say.

"What… do you think I'm good at?"

Naruto seemed to ponder that for a moment, making a small "Hmm" sound as he did. About ten seconds later, he finally answered.

"I guess you're pretty good at Ninjutsu and Taijutsu, especially when you use your Sharingan. Your style is really versatile, and you're able to easily flow from a Jutsu into hand-to-hand combat." Naruto smiled awkwardly at him. "Uh… I swear there's more… but I'm kind of… blanking?"

Sasuke glared as Jiraiya guffawed loudly.

"Well, thanks Naruto, my best and closest friend. Good to know I'm valued."

"OI! I said I was just blanking!" Naruto stressed as he tried to think of more things to say. "I… Well, you're a really good… defensive fighter?"

Sasuke sighed as Jiraiya fell to the floor, clutching his sides.

"I'm trying, Ok! Jeez! You act like this is easy! Why don't you try it!?"

"Fine, I will." Sasuke briefly thought of what to say. "Naruto, you're a well-rounded fighter, specializing in short to mid-range combat. Your main forte is in analyzing your opponent with Shadow Clones and then beating them through abusing their weaknesses. You're also fairly adept at numerous Shinobi techniques, including shuriken Jutsu and Taijutsu." He took a breath, wearing a look of superiority. "There, easy."

Naruto's left eye twitched.

"Fine. Be that way."

"What do you mean "Be that way"!? You're the one who started this!"

"Children, please." Jiraiya spoke as he regained control of his faculties. "Let's not fight. Naruto, your description of Sasuke was fine. Sasuke, your description for Naruto was also fine. Just because one was longer and more complex doesn't mean it was deeper in any way." The man laughed under his breath a second later. "And if you think Naruto's analyzing most of the time he sends out Shadow Clones, I think you're overestimating him a bit."

"What is this, 'pick on Naruto hour'?" The boy in orange shouted annoyedly.

"I was complimenting you not one minute ago!" Sasuke shouted back.

"OK, one more time and I beat the shit out of the both of you." Jiraiya spoke in deadpan, waiting for them both to be silent, glaring at him without uttering a word. "Good, thank you. Now, Naruto, while Sasuke here works on his Genjutsu, I'm going to teach you that Jutsu we talked about earlier."

"Oh, you mean Ras… whatever, right?"

"Rasengan, yes."

"Neat." Naruto commented. "So what am I doing?"

Jiraiya held a finger up for the boy to wait a moment, before reaching into his coat and pulling out what looked to be a small orb. A second later, Sasuke recognized the quiet sloshing sounds and noted that it must've been a water balloon.

"Right, so listen up."

/-/

Zaku was back again, which had, over the course of a few days, gradually gone from a surprising occurrence to a regular one.

He sat quietly at the edge of their training area, doing his best not to interrupt as he whispered back and forth with Kin and Dosu, the both of whom seemed far less enthusiastic about visiting her. Anko seemed to find the entire thing hilarious as she stood a way's away from them, looking between her and Zaku over and over, occasionally giving Sakura this… odd expression.

_I'll ask her later what she's so amused by, I guess._

"Alright, twice more." The doctor who'd been attending to Sakura's experiments for the past few days called out. "You're close to a breakthrough with this."

_Yeah, definitely. _Sakura deadpanned, finding herself disagreeing with the woman's theory. _I'm soooo close to figuring out the Wood Style. I'm sure attempt number two-hundred and five will be totally different to the previous two-hundred and four!_

She focused her chakra around her curse mark, letting some of the malignant creation's own chakra flow into her own, creating an odd mix. She then tried to force that into all the little nooks and crannies of the curse mark, feeling for where some of the First Hokage's cells resided.

She'd gotten decently good at locating them, it was drawing out their power, and mixing it with her own, that was giving her trouble.

She did things slightly different this time. Instead of mixing in some of her chakra in order to better control the outpour of Hashirama's own, she decided to feed it only the curse mark's chakra. Perhaps the raw natural energy, without any of her own to get in the way, would stimulate the Wood Style enough for it to explode forth? She put her hands out, channeled that chakra, and focused hard.

It was around twenty seconds later that she let out a disappointed sigh.

_Nothing happened._

That wasn't exactly surprising. The tests they did here ended with nothing happening about 95 percent of the time. In the single case where she did manage to strike a good balance between using her own chakra and the curse marks chakra, applying the appropriate amounts of both to Hashirama's cells, and outputting them in a successful way, the resulting Jutsu had been a single pink cherry blossom sprouting from the back of her neck.

_Not exactly inspiring stuff. _Sakura deadpanned. _Even if it had been pretty cool._

"So, what did you attempt that time?" The doctor asked once more, chronicling Sakura's attempts to master the Wood Style in her notes.

Sakura briefly explained her thought process from before, to which the woman merely nodded.

"Alright, then once more."

As Sakura began focusing once more, a single thought nagged at her from the back of her head, until she truly couldn't focus anymore on wood style. Instead, she found herself looking up into the face of the Kunoichi who'd been testing her the past few days.

"Hey, uhm… miss?"

The root woman looked up, eyeing Sakura curiously.

"What is it?"

"What's your name?"

She hadn't been expecting the doctor's eyes to widen to such a degree, nor for the look of confusion on the woman's face to be so depressing.

"I do not have a name." She replied simply. "I am given a codename when I go out on missions, but I have no need of one outside of them."

Sakura tilted her head to the side, a bit confused.

"Then… what do people call you?"

"Doctor, or ma'am." The woman shrugged, an oddly human gesture for someone who seemed almost robotic. "It doesn't matter."

"Then… what was your last code name?" Sakura asked, before realizing that could be construed as trying to get information. "I mean – if you're Ok with giving that out! I'm not trying to-"

"Codenames from finished missions have no meaning, it is fine." The woman waived away her concerns, before sighing, as if she were a teacher dealing with bratty kids all day. "My last codename was Ra. If you must call me something, you may refer to me as such."

_Ra, huh?_

"Why do you care, if I might ask?"

Sakura looked up at the woman, feeling a bit awkward.

"Well, I guess I just wanted something to call you that wasn't 'Doctor', y'know?"

"I still say we should've named her ourselves." Anko called from the back of the room, shouting so that both Sakura and Ra could hear her. "I was thinking 'dick lips', personally."

The doctor gave a sharp glare towards Anko, once again showing that she clearly did feel emotion, and another towards the sound trio, who'd laughed just a bit too obviously at Anko's joke.

"Getting back on topic," Ra quietly seethed. "Please resume your tests."

"R-right!" Sakura answered, before falling back into her mind once more.

_This time… I'll do the opposite extreme._

She reached for her own chakra this time, completely ignoring the curse mark's chakra, and flooded Hashirama's cells with it. She reached her hands out, tried with all her might to force that same chakra into them, and pushed outwards.

Once more, there was nothing.

She let out a small huff of frustration, one which her curse mark immediately latched onto, nearly managing to slip past her little pen of chakra and snake down her arm. She reigned it back in a second later, forcing it back into the seal, and shut the lock rather fiercely.

_At least this training's made me a lot better at dealing with this thing. _Sakura couldn't help but admit as she massaged the skin on which the curse mark sat. _Though the jury's still out on whether or not this'll work in combat…_

She'd simply have to hope it would.

"Please, explain your thought process this time as well."

Sakura went through the motions, explaining her attempt, and Ra documented it.

"Very well, we're done for the day."

The woman stepped forward, making to leave, but stopped at the door. She let her hand rest on the frame, lightly tapping on it.

"Not everyone in this place will take your question as kindly, Sakura Haruno." Ra's voice was almost empty, almost devoid of any meaning, but Sakura could catch the tiniest hint of melancholy hanging in the back of the woman's throat. "You'd best be more careful."

"I appreciate the warning, ma'am." Sakura gave a small bow as Anko walked over towards her. "But, well… I'm not going to abandon my ideals just because I'm in some weird, new place. You're all people too, aren't you?"

To her surprise, the woman before her merely laughed, looking back over with what she could only describe as a jaded expression.

"Perhaps once." She answered. "But not anymore."

And then she was gone.

"Fun one, isn't she?" Anko joked, playfully punching her arm as she circled around her. "Still, at least you're getting some decent training out of this."

"Yeah, I guess so."

She wasn't all that surprised to find her mood had fallen slightly thanks to the doctor's comments. She wasn't sure what to make of them, either.

_No longer people? _Sakura questioned. _Just what is that supposed to mean?_

"Hey, Sakura?"

She turned to look up at Anko, giving the woman an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, I'm just… thinking."

"No worries, I get it. Your first time in Root is always a weird feeling." Anko looked around the room, silently envisioning something. "The place is so full of people, and yet it's one of the most somber, silent places you'll ever visit. You might as well be in a library for the terminally ill."

"Why are they like this?" Sakura couldn't help but ask. "I mean are there like… experiments done or something?"

Anko didn't laugh at her comment, which seemed to be the final hint she'd needed that whatever was going on here, it must've been at least a bit sinister.

"Not experiments, but it is a practice that almost anyone else besides Danzo would find horrifyingly immoral." Anko smiled bitterly, grinding her teeth together. "And yet this bastard not only survived that attack on the leaf, but he's probably one of the people behind it… I guess some things never change."

Sakura's eyes widened.

"D-Danzo was one of the people behind the attack!?"

Anko looked down at her, then seemed to survey the area, watching for any signs of movement out of the corners of her eyes. There was, of course, the sound trio at the edge of the room, at this point arguing about something rather incessantly. Nothing else seemed to set the woman off, however, for she continued a moment later.

"It's what Jiraiya, Naruto, and Sasuke are up to. They're off to get us some back-up before we challenge Danzo. Well, that, and to get the new Fifth Hokage as well."

"That's all well and good, but you just said-"

"Yeah, I let that little morsel slip, but we'd probably best not discuss that in here." Anko gestured to her ear, then pointed with her thumb at the surrounding walls. "You get me?"

"R-right!"

"Sorry, I messed up." Her teacher admitted, a bead of sweat rolling down her forehead. "If we're lucky, they're slacking a bit."

"And if we're not?"

Anko paused for a moment, before smiling down at her.

"Then I'd have to break us out myself."

"Uhm… no offense, Anko sensei, but are you really that strong?" She held her hands up in surrender as Anko's eyes narrowed. "I'm just saying, even you said there were a ton of people in here! Are you sure you'd be able to take them all on?"

The woman glared daggers at her, lightly punching her above her left breast.

"Oi." Anko berated her quietly. "Don't be realistic, it's no fun."

Sakura simply sighed, before sinking back into her serious mood.

"So… the plan is to wait for Jiraiya and the boys to come back… and then what?"

"Did I not just say we can't talk about this here?"

"I know you did, but at the same time, you can't just drop hints like that and then stop!"

Anko sighed, rubbing a hand down her face as she contemplated her students words.

"I'm not finished yet."

Sakura's eyebrows rose.

"Huh?"

"Just a second."

A moment later, there was a faint, almost indistinguishable sound of hissing. Sakura's eyes widened as she realized what her mentor had been doing.

"Alright, there are no audio recording systems in this room, we're good." Anko let out a loud sigh of obvious relief. "Here I was thinking I'd accidentally screwed up the whole plan, hah."

"So… you let it slip on accident then?"

"Nope, it was definitely on purpose." Anko corrected her, smiling down in a joking way. "I did it completely on purpose."

"Yeah… OK." Sakura thought about something a moment later. "Actually, when you said audio recording… does that mean there are video cameras in this room?"

"Oh yeah, like eight of the damned things." Anko did some light stretches, indicating with the movements of her head the camera's locations. "One every 45 degrees. Technically those cameras can pick up audio, but we shouldn't have to worry about that with those three chatting up a storm." She pointed with her thumb to the sound trio in the back of the room.

"I checked specifically for any equipment that could pick us up even with them talking, and from somewhere we wouldn't see, and I didn't find any of those, so we should be fine. Alright, you had questions, yeah?"

Anko smirked at her, a devious expression that looked completely at home on her features.

"Hit me."

/-/

"I hate you."

"I don't see why you'd hate me for helping you out." Naruto commented as he desperately fought back a fit of laughter. "I'm just being nice, after all."

"I have nothing for you in my heart but hatred."

"I think you've got me mixed up with someone else, my name is Naruto, I-"

"Put me down!"

"Make me?" Naruto asked, snickering as he held the boy underneath his thighs, giving Sasuke a makeshift piggyback ride. "Because quite frankly, I don't think you can at the moment."

"You do realize that dragging me around like this is probably putting _more _strain on my ribs than if I was walking on my own, correct?"

"Frankly, I disagree."

"I fail to see how you disagreeing means anything."

"Because you can't exactly get down on your own, can you?"

"…This is abuse. You're abusing the disabled because they can't fight back."

"You were the one who said he wanted to get out and see the town!"

"I said I wanted to get up and get some air! There is a massive difference!"

"You were already outside, how could you get any more air than that!?"

"I'd been sitting in the same spot for nearly seven hours!"

"And you had air the whole time!"

"Would you two shut the hell up!?" A stall owner who'd have the unfortunate task of listening to the two of them argue for the past minute complained loudly. "Some people have actual responsibilities!"

Naruto debated starting an argument, but found himself all argued out, instead deciding to walk away, carrying the angered Sasuke along with him.

"You can apologize whenever you want." The boy spoke simply.

"You might be waiting a while." Naruto shot back.

They walked for a while as Naruto investigated all the nearby gambling parlors, or anything that struck him as vaguely shady looking. He had a feeling that a normal twelve-year-old probably wouldn't have even gone near some of the establishments he was snooping inside, but then, a normal twelve-year-old didn't have a battery shaped like a giant fox hanging out in their stomach, nor were they carrying another fireball-spewing-twelve-year-old along their back.

A few people inside gave them intriguing looks, though quickly looked the other way once Sasuke adjusted the headband atop his head. To them, they were probably some odd chimera, a fusion of two ninja that was searching for its creator.

"Hey, Sasuke!" Naruto whispered. Well, he tried to whisper, and that was what mattered. "We should pretend to be some undead chimera or something! And say something like "only Tsunade can split the two of us apart again!"!"

"Why the hell would we bother doing that?" Sasuke scolded him. "We already have a reason to look for Tsunade, we don't need to make up a fake one."

Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto noticed a fairly tall black-haired woman shift. It wasn't obvious, and he was fairly sure that if he hadn't been looking for someone, he wouldn't have seen it.

_Is she reacting to what I think she's reacting to?_

_…Better test it out, I suppose._

"I mean, this is Tsunade of the Sannin! It's not like we can just request an audience with **the **Tsunade, even if we do need her to heal your injuries!"

"Why are you being weird?" Sasuke called him on his behavior almost instantly. "You notice something?"

He gestured with his head towards the woman behind him.

"Thinking there may be a connection. Not sure yet."

Sasuke sighed, before, with a small blush, he spoke up.

"Ah, oh, woe is me, the pain is nearly unbearable. I hope we can soon come across the strongest medical ninja of all time, Tsunade of the Sannin, or else I fear I may not make it."

Naruto glared at the boy.

"Really. That's the best you've got?"

"Oh, shut up! I'm a damned ninja not a freaking actor!"

"Uhm, excuse me?"

They both turned towards the voice, well, Naruto turned, and Sasuke just sort of went with him. It was the same woman from earlier. She wore a simple black kimono and sandals. She didn't exactly stand out in the small gambling parlor's entryway.

"Yeah?" Naruto feigned innocence. "Did you need something?"

"I couldn't help but overhear the two of you…" The woman looked almost guilty, though Naruto couldn't see why she would be. "You're looking for Tsunade-sa– Tsunade, correct?"

"Yeah, we're trying to find her so she'll heal my friends shoulder, and his ribs."

The woman before him blinked once or twice, as if doing some mental arithmetic.

"In that case… allow me to take you to her. I'm sure she'd be willing to help heal some children, but… well, are your injuries bleeding?"

"Er," Naruto could tell that Sasuke wasn't entirely sure why such a thing would be relevant. "Well, one of them was, but it's been sewn shut already, so…"

"That's fine! Good, even. If you'll follow me, then I can-"

The woman seemed to realize they weren't following, for she looked back towards them with her eyebrows raised.

"Er… are you coming?"

"So you're saying I should just follow some random lady I just met back to her house!?" Naruto questioned, smirking to himself. "If you think I'll fall for that, then you've got another thing coming! Iruka Sensei told me to never follow a stranger back to their house, especially when their offer seems too good to be true!"

"Naruto I swear to the gods I will end you." Sasuke growled from on his shoulder.

"Right, no kidding around, sorry."

He stepped up to follow the woman, but by the time he did, she'd stopped, and was now gazing down at Sasuke.

"You said his shoulder and ribs were injured, correct?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Are those his… only injuries?"

"Yeah… is that a problem, or?"

"No, no, I was just thinking that if that's the only problem, I could go ahead and heal him right here. We needn't get Tsunade for something like that."

"W-well, you see, my friend has a phobia of people with black hair, so-"

"Please shut up." Sasuke sighed out. "We were actually looking for Tsunade for another reason as well, Miss. Is there any way you could let us and our master meet with her?"

"Who's this master of yours?" The woman's face remained calm, yet it was hard to miss how her posture straightened, silently preparing herself for a battle if need be. "Just so I know who we're dealing with."

Naruto didn't really see any need to hold back on that kind of information, but at the same time, he wondered why the woman would be so hostile towards them.

"His name's Jiraiya, he and Tsunade are old teammates, or, well, that's what he tells us."

If it was possible, the woman in front of them somehow managed to drop her guard and raise it tenfold at the same time.

_Yeah, _Naruto thought, grinning slightly. _That seems like an appropriate response to having to deal with that Pervy Sage._

"Well… that's… I can't say I expected to have to deal with this when I woke up today." The woman spoke, grasping at her heart in an attempt to calm herself down. "Both of them in one day… what are the odds…"

Naruto's eyes narrowed, even if he didn't quite know what the woman meant. If his theory was correct, however…

"Shizune!" A voice called out from outside the parlor. "Haven't you finished up in there yet!? I swear I didn't have that many bills outstanding!"

_Who's that?_

"Is that her?" Sasuke asked.

"Ah, yeah." The woman, apparently named Shizune, turned her back to them, leaning out the doorway and shouting down the alley. "Just a moment, Tsunade-sama! There are some people here who want to speak with you."

A moment or two of silence later, Tsunade's voice called back.

"Oh, c'mon! I thought I told you bastards that I paid the last of my outstanding debts half a year ago! I'm not going to fall for any more of these-"

The woman who entered was perhaps an inch or two shorter than her retainer. She had long blonde hair drawn into twin ponytail's that hung low on her head, and was wearing a green colored Kimono over a fairly simple outfit. Upon seeing the two of them, she nearly immediately stopped speaking.

"You don't look like debt collectors." She put together rather quickly.

"That'd be because we aren't." Sasuke responded.

"We're here to bring you back to the Leaf Village!" Naruto shouted. "We've gotta' overthrow the guy that betrayed Lord Third, and make you the new Fifth Hokage!"

Tsunade blinked once, then a second time, before, with a sigh, she leaned against the door-frame beside her.

"Damn." She breathed out just loud enough for them to hear.

"I think I would've preferred the debt collectors."

**End Chapter 36**

* * *

**Alright.**

**Back to writing this story after Christmas. Shorter chapter while I warm my fingers back up into the writing groove.**

**This is one of those "Everything's set-up and nothing happens" chapters, which I always hate writing, but that doesn't make them any less important.**

**Still makes me feel shitty though.**

**In other news...**

**Man, there's no other news.**

**See you all next week!**


	37. Chapter 37

**Day 7 of not updating this story, which means it's probably about time to update this story.**

**Eh... in conclusion, without further ado.**

* * *

**Chapter 37: A Critical Error**

* * *

A yawn escaped Sakura's mouth as she got up and out of her bed, doing her best not to give into the sweet, sweet temptation to lay back down and skip the morning's training.

After brushing her teeth and using the restroom, she walked back over towards hers and Anko's beds and lightly shook the woman's body.

"Oi." She called to the still-sleeping woman, trying to rouse her without much hassle. "Wakie wakie."

Anko groaned, pulling the covers around herself even tighter, until the only thing that Sakura could see of the woman's form was a single smidgen of hair.

"Hey, c'mon."

There was no response.

"We've got stuff to do, they said that one guy's getting back from his mission today."

She could've heard a pin drop. Well, if Anko hadn't been snoring, that was.

_Clearly more drastic measures are necessary. _Sakura concluded, nodding sagely as she closed her eyes. _You've brought this upon yourself, Anko Sensei._

She brought her hand up above her, smirking in a way that might've led a bystander to believe she didn't exactly have the best intentions.

They would've been wrong, of course. Sakura was a benevolent caretaker, and the subsequent chop to the woman's stomach was completely and utterly necessary.

In an instant, Anko's eyes met hers with a fury unlike anything she'd ever seen, and Sakura turned and ran before she'd even bothered to confirm if the woman's trying to hurt her.

"SAKURA!"

"DON'T HURT ME I'M SORRY!"

"YOU DID THIS!"

Sakura turned her head to look back, which proved to be a fatal mistake. Anko had caught up to her far too quickly, and the little delay caused by her observation was what let the woman tackle her to the cold stone floor below and ruthlessly noogie the crap out of her.

"AGH!" Sakura squirmed in the woman's grip, desperately clawing at the floor below. "Mercy! Spare my life!"

"You've done this to yourself Sakura!"

Sakura found herself giggling, despite the pain in her head. It wasn't exactly fun, but moments like these were the ones she treasured. Little things, really, were what kept her comfortable, despite the fact that the two of them were, essentially, locked inside a giant prison.

"Oh, right." Anko spoke, briefly ceasing her noogying. "That Tenzo guy's supposed to be getting back today, right?"

"I was trying to tell you that!"

"Well I didn't hear." Anko spoke simply, smiling lazily as if that excuse was all that mattered.

"I know you heard! You just decided to go back to sleep!"

"Your accusations are meaningless."

Sakura glared at the woman, but a hearty laugh was the only thing she received in return.

"Seriously though, shall we be off?" Anko asked, holding her hand out to Sakura to help her up off the ground.

Sakura took it with a small sigh, trying not to let her true feelings show on her face. If Anko figured out that she was secretly enjoying this…

_There'd be hell_, Sakura nodded to herself. _Simple as that._

/-/

Tenzo didn't really strike her as an overly friendly person, which Sakura couldn't help but think was a shame, given that she was, presumably, going to be spending an awful long time under his tutelage.

There was another boy beside him, clad in what she'd come to understand was the traditional garb of Root. He wore a mask as well that concealed his face, but judging based on his height, and the brief snippets of his voice that she'd heard earlier, she placed him around her own age.

"So… you're the one who Orochimaru gave his curse mark to, correct?" His voice was almost scarily calm, but in an unsettling way. To Sakura, it was yet another strike against this blasted place. "You seem… not weak… perhaps middling is the best way to put it."

She really did try to not let that get to her, but unfortunately, her temper had always been her greatest weakness.

"OI!" She complained rather loudly. "What did you call me!?"

"Middling." The man repeated, sighing like he was dealing with an idiot. "Average, mediocre, unexceptional. You're just not the type I figured Orochimaru would bother looking into."

Sakura understood what he was saying, and she understood even more so thanks to Orochimaru's very own words. The bastard had told both she and Sasuke that the mark had been meant for him.

But that didn't mean she was going to accept being called average.

_Still, not as if I can really do anything about it. _Sakura sighed a moment later, breathing out some of her rage for the man given the name Tenzo. _Can't exactly challenge a Root Jonin to a duel, can I?_

Anko placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to offer a silent show of support, though the fact that she didn't speak up told Sakura that she was probably not technically supposed to be there.

"I have her file here, sir." The boy with the mask stood next to Tenzo offered him a small manila folder. "Some sections have been blacked out, given that you have given up your association with-"

"That's fine. I came here on a favor for Kakashi, nothing more."

That had Sakura tilting her head. She'd initially assumed, simply because of Tenzo's demeanor, that he too was a member of Root. He was at least an Anbu, from what Sakura had heard from Anko, and according to his own words, he knew Kakashi well enough to do the man a favor…

_Let's just keep that in mind… _Sakura told herself. _Neither good nor bad as of right now, just something to remember._

The Jonin before her read silently, taking a good two or three minutes to peruse the contents of the folder, until he seemed to find what he'd been looking for.

"Ah, I see, so the mark was given to you by mistake?" His voice seemed matter of fact, and the tone irked Sakura, despite knowing that she shouldn't be letting something so small bother her. "That makes far more sense."

"Look, you're here to train me, right?" Sakura let out, trying to disguise her seething as a regular breath. "Can we just get on with it, skipping the creepy analyzing?"

Tenzo tilted his head to the side, and for a second, she thought she'd said something wrong.

"Who are they?"

Sakura followed the man's finger, turning and taking a look at what he was–

_Ah. That explains it._

Zaku had returned once more, though this time, it seemed like only Kin had been drawn along.

"Ah, they're just some friends."

"We saw no need to inform you of the identities of any other pieces." The masked boy remarked, and though there was no emotion to his voice, a small resentment was still clearly conveyed. "Given your lack of affiliation."

"I understand." The man said, letting out a sigh of his own. "For supposedly being above emotion, Danzo sure does hold a grudge."

"I've no idea what you mean, sir."

Sakura watched the exchange with narrowed eyes. It did, at the very least, confirm her earlier hypothesis that this man was not a member of Root at the time, but…

_Judging by that boy's words, he used to be._

"Right, I suppose we'll get started."

Tenzo stepped up toward her, briefly circling her, and she assumed also taking the time to observe her muscle-mass and chakra levels, or perhaps he was just committing to his creepy vibe and checking out a twelve-year-old.

At that point, Sakura wasn't sure if she cared.

"Small build, somehow, I doubt you'd have the right chakra levels for this to work correctly." He rubbed his chin with one hand, considering several things. "Still, if that curse mark works how it's supposed to… it's possible you could be able to use its power to amplify your abilities."

"Mind filling the rest of us in?" Anko spoke for the first time, cutting in where Sakura didn't feel she could. "What exactly is it you're planning?"

"It really depends on her." The man responded to Anko's concerns, walking to stand in front of Sakura once more. "If you're fine with using that curse mark, then it's still possible you could utilize the Wood Style in a more… practical manner."

"Uh… define practical?" Sakura asked.

"I mean in combat."

"Ah, OK."

"Now, according to Sai's data here," Tenzo gestured to the boy standing beside him, apparently given the title of Sai. "You haven't been having much success when it comes to bringing this out."

She groaned but nodded.

"Okay, well, if I'm being honest, I've never really been one to teach, but I suppose nothing's gained if nothing's ventured."

He brought his hands together, forming what Sakura recognized as the 'Snake' seal at the end of his chain, and pushed his hands onto the ground below him.

The ground cracked open, revealing roots that snaked through the cold stone, rupturing it in multiple places as they began to form an object. A second later Sakura could recognize the general shape and looked on in awe as it formed itself into a decent-sized tree.

"You were not given permission to break anything in this room." Sai's voice came out from behind his mask.

"I'm sure Danzo can fix a simple floor, can't he?" Tenzo's response was icy, and Sakura took a step back from the two, fearing they might actually come to blows. "Now, I'm not going to ask you to create something of this magnitude, but I will ask that you work towards creating something at least a tenth this size."

Sakura made a quick mental calculation, and concluded a moment later that her tree, or whatever else she could make, would have to be at least 15 centimeters tall.

"That… doesn't sound all that easy." Sakura admitted, unable to meet the man's eyes. "I've been having trouble just getting the Wood Style to manifest at all, let alone making anything with it. I mean, the biggest thing I've created so far was a twig."

Tenzo massaged his chin, before looking at Anko with a curious expression.

"Do you think she's capable of this?"

Sakura looked back towards her mentor, knowing what the woman would say already, but feeling a bit embarrassed about hearing it.

"I do." Anko spoke, patting Sakura on the back and ushering her forward. "She's a bit on the shy side, but she really is quite capable."

"Who's on the shy side!?" Sakura protested, her cheeks burning red as she turned away from her teacher.

A small, breathy laugh from Tenzo broke the two of them out of their exchange, and Sakura's eyes were rather wide as she met the man's own. A moment later, he seemed to realize his behavior was odd, and he coughed into his hand, effectively breaking the odd illusion.

"Forgive me, I was distracted for a moment." Tenzo walked towards her, holding his hands out. "I would like to try something. I'm going to give you an idea of what it feels like to utilize the wood style, and you're going to try and emulate that feeling."

"Uhm… alright?" Sakura put her hands in the man's own, focusing intently on her own chakra, waiting to feel his disrupt it. "I'm… not feeling anything."

"It'll be a second, I'm trying to separate my chakras. I'm going to do water in my right hand, and earth in my left. Can you mirror that?"

Sakura wasn't entirely sure she could.

"I'll try."

It really was an odd thing to attempt. It felt like trying to take two entirely separate parts of herself and place them on opposite ends of her body. For Sakura, her two natures hadn't really been the basis of her training with Naruto and Sasuke. She'd mostly stuck to shuriken jutsu and Taijutsu, learning more basic things than actual Jutsu's, and so most of what she'd learned regarding them had come in the last couple months of training with Team 7 and Anko.

Her teacher had, briefly, tried to get her to perform this technique. At the time, she'd been unable to even fathom attempting it.

Now, a few near-death-experiences richer, and just a bit more confident, she was more than willing to give it a shot.

The basic concept wasn't lost on her. It was similar in essence to what she'd been doing with the curse mark all week, separating it's chakra from her own to keep herself safe.

And so she followed those same principles, reaching deep within herself and feeling for her core, situated in the basin of her stomach. She pulled in two different directions, subtly altering the flow, and adding the elements she needed to both.

Her first attempt ended there. The chakra's were fluctuating far too harshly, until they spun entirely out of her control. She fell to her knees a moment later, panting harshly as sweat poured down her face.

"You okay!?" Anko was already on her, supporting her with an arm around her shoulders. "You were focusing hard for like… ten minutes."

"T-ten minutes!?" Sakura practically shouted, looking up from her position on the floor and noticing that not only was Tenzo beside her, but Zaku as well.

"Whew." Zaku released an anxious breath of air, falling onto his back and laying there for a moment. "You stopped breathing for a second there." Zaku sat for a moment, perfectly content, before he seemingly realized he needed to contradict himself. "I-I mean, they said you were just focusing, so I wasn't all that worried, but, well-"

"Yes, yes, everyone believes you, dumbass." Kin smacked the boy upside the head, before looking towards Sakura with disdain. "So, you're still alive, then… shame."

Sakura felt like she probably should've gotten mad at that, but the raw dryness in the girl's voice had her smirking instead.

"Interesting you'd bring that up, I'm pretty sure you were on death's door not a month ago." Sakura massaged her chin, feigning thinking hard. "I forgot, how did that happen again?"

Kin smiled herself, evidently fine with the dark humor. She shook her head, dismissing the topic, before she continued to speak.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." The girl let out an annoyed sigh. "Jeez, I've been stuck coming here everyday with this idiot," Kin jabbed her thumb at Zaku. "So I've gotten kind of acquainted with your efforts here. Dosu just sort of went to the bathroom this morning and managed to avoid having to come here. I honestly admire his commitment."

"Hah, Naruto's like that sometimes, always trying to-"

"Excuse me, you two." Tenzo's voice was stern, but there was a hint of gentleness in it that seemed to assure Sakura that he meant no harm. "I don't mean to interrupt, but I'll have to ask the both of you not to interfere with these tests. They'll be requiring all of Sakura's focus."

Zaku and Kin didn't seem to know how to respond to the man, other than nodding and acquiescing to his request, standing and, after giving Sakura a quick nod, walking back towards the bench in the back of the training hall, the spot that had quickly become their normal haunt.

"Now, we're going to try this once more. Sakura, make sure you're taking deep breaths, and letting your chakra flow naturally."

She'd failed for the last week, doing nothing but getting stuck over and over again in the same places. She'd failed to utilize the Wood-natured chakra; she'd failed to make the curse mark's chakra work with her.

But surely now that she had an actual expert beside her, things would change. With his guidance, she'd be able to truly master this forgotten art!

"Right." She answered him, before falling back into her own head.

/-/

"So… you're here working alongside Jiraiya?"

Naruto and Sasuke both nodded, despite the fact that Tsunade was glaring daggers at the both of them. They weren't entirely sure if that was related to their aforementioned master, or if it was because of the comments they'd made regarding her becoming fifth Hokage.

_Okay, _Naruto admitted. _The comments __**I **__made, but still, I'm sure Sasuke messed up somewhere._

Tsunade let out a horrid sigh, one that had both Naruto and Sasuke wincing, before she looked the both of them in the eye.

"Right, so I suppose **_he_** wasn't lying, then. Where is Jiraiya, if I might ask?"

Naruto supposed that was fair, given that they'd basically shown up with no notice, no real connection, and no master, before proclaiming that she had to participate in a battle to overthrow the secretly evil dictator of the Leaf Village, and that she was also the next Hokage.

That had probably left a bad impression.

"We're uh… not exactly sure?" Naruto admitted, trying to keep his hands in the air in as clear an expression of 'I can't control him please don't hurt me' as he could. "He goes off to drink – I mean, gather information at night, and doesn't usually show up until morning, so…"

Tsunade nodded, an empathetic expression on her face as she reached over and patted the both of them on their shoulders.

"I'm really sorry about him." The Sannin spoke with a tired groan. "To have gotten stuck with someone like that as your teacher… actually, wait, I wasn't even aware that Jiraiya was teaching kids, when did he take you guys in?"

"Oh, we're not usually his students." Sasuke spoke up. "We actually serve under Kakashi Hatake, have you heard of him?"

"Are you talking about the White Fang's kid?"

Naruto and Sasuke shared a confused look, before shrugging helplessly.

"Maybe? He's never really told us anything about his past."

Tsunade nodded, massaging her temples as she seemingly wracked her brain.

"Eh… white hair, wears a mask?"

"Yeah, that's him." They both confirmed.

The conversation trailed off in what was unmistakably an uncomfortable manner, Sasuke actually going so far as to cough awkwardly. Naruto himself couldn't help but try and bring some life back to their little talk, even if it wasn't the most professional thing to say.

"Er, well, you're lucky to be selected for the Fifth Hokage position." Naruto smiled warmly at the woman across from them. "It's my dream to become the Hokage, so to see someone else accomplish it… well, it's a bit annoying, but as long as you do a good job-"

"Kid, I'm not going to be the Hokage."

Naruto turned on her rather quickly, feeling bewildered, and just the smallest bit angry, at her words.

"What do you mean!?"

"I mean that when Jiraiya gets here, I'm going to decline his little idea and send him packing." Tsunade waved a hand in the air casually, as if dismissing the very notion of their plan. "Besides, it's not like they need me. Just because someone betrayed the Third Hokage doesn't mean I need to be the one to clean up the mess."

"And what if that person was Danzo Shimura?" A voice called from the entrance-way of the tiny hotel room they resided inside. "Would you be more inclined to act then, Tsunade?"

The woman in question clicked her tongue, leaning back in her chair with a sigh as she turned to look the new arrival in the eye.

"So… he finally made his move, then?"

"He did indeed." Jiraiya confirmed, walking into the space and sitting down next to Sasuke on the floor. "I'm not just coming to get you for the position of Hokage. I'm coming to get you for back-up in the revolt as well. It's not going to be easy uprooting Danzo of all people."

Despite what they might've expected from the woman, Tsunade actually laughed.

"Uproot, heh, I like it."

"Thank you, I thought it was pretty good myself."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Naruto interrupted, turning to face Jiraiya with a shocked expression. "How'd you get here, Pervy Sage!?"

"First off, for the love of all that you hold dear, do not call me Pervy Sage when there are people that I know around." Naruto was fairly sure that was a threat, but he was also fairly sure he didn't much care. "And second of all, you're not exactly the hardest person in the world to track, Naruto."

"I resent that."

"Can you refute it?"

"No, that's why I said resent instead of refute."

"Anyways, getting back on topic," Jiraiya turned to face Tsunade, supporting his head with both of his arms as he gazed up at her from his spot on the floor. "Quite frankly, we could use your strength, not to mention your skills in Medical Jutsu."

"And you're planning a direct assault on Root? You do realize that's not exactly the wisest idea, correct?"

"E-excuse me, Lady Tsunade?" The woman's retainer, Shizune, spoke up. "What exactly is 'Root'?"

Naruto was glad the woman had asked. He was kind of curious himself. He'd heard the name come up once or twice in conversation, but never actually learned what it was they were all about, or what their relation was to Danzo, a man he'd only met once.

"Ah, I guess it makes sense that you've never really heard of them." Tsunade waved away her students concerns. "Simply put, if the Anbu black ops are your regular special forces, then root… they're almost an even more dedicated sect. They're the kinds of ninjas who will do anything for the sake of the village, and I do mean anything."

"Yeah, they're about as hardcore as it gets, and for better or worse, usually worse, they answer directly to Danzo Shimura." Jiraiya shook his head, rather obviously omitting his own opinion on the group. "Anyways, Tsunade, are you in or out?"

The woman sighed as she looked down on Jiraiya.

"I have nothing to do with that village anymore. Orochimaru killed the third Hokage, I get that, but even if Danzo helped him do it, I don't particularly care either way." Tsunade put her hands behind her head, leaning back in her chair. "He was getting old as it is, probably only had another few years left in him."

Naruto's teeth ground together, gripping the armrest beside him far too hard.

_I don't care who she is! _Naruto mentally seethed. _To insult Lord Third… to make a mockery of his death…_

_To insult the position of the Hokage…!_

Naruto stood up, just about to unleash his rage upon the woman before him, but before he could open his mouth, someone else interjected.

"Don't insult Lord Third like that!" Sasuke shouted, standing up beside Naruto, even as he stepped away from the Uchiha in surprise.

"Oh?" Tsunade's eyebrow arced upwards, an almost challenging expression adorning her face. "And just what are you planning on doing about it?"

"We'll beat you up!" Naruto interjected, standing next to Sasuke with a defiant expression. "If we win, you've gotta' apologize about saying those things to Lord Third, and then you've gotta' help us beat this Danzo guy, too!"

"Ohoho?" Tsunade smirked, ignoring the way that her retainer frantically tried to stop her from standing. "Sure, why not. I'll take you two on."

"Now wait just a minute, Tsunade!" Jiraiya interrupted, and the two of them began to argue back and forth.

To his surprise, it was Sasuke who tapped him on the shoulder. The boy gestured for him to lean over towards him.

"Uh, Naruto, this woman's a Sannin." Sasuke whispered without breaking eye-contact. "You do realize we're not going to win this, right?"

"Says who!" He exclaimed, buffeting Sasuke backwards with the power of his voice alone. "We can do it! Just because she's strong doesn't mean we aren't as well!"

"I think you're severely underestimating her," Sasuke sighed out, but still grinned a moment later. "But whatever. Let's go for it, I suppose."

/-/

The dirt road outside their little hotel wasn't exactly the best place to have a battle, Naruto thought.

"Alright, if we're really going to fight it out like five-year olds," Jiraiya, who Naruto couldn't help but think was being a bit hypocritical, called out from the sidelines. "Then first to hit the ground loses. Naruto and Sasuke, if both of you hit the ground at the same time, you lose. Tsunade… do I even need to bother?"

"No, but… sure, those rules sound fine I suppose."

"Lady Tsunade, please!" Shizune exclaimed, sounding actually upset with the woman. "Fighting two Genin is so far below you, I can't help but think that-"

"Back off, Shizune." Tsunade doesn't meet the girl's eyes, and Naruto winces as Shizune steps back disappointedly.

_Mistreating even your closest retainer, huh? _His knuckles clenched; his eyes narrowed. _Fine then, we'll show you._

_Show you how foolish you really are._

"Well then…" Jiraiya raised his hand in the air, and after perhaps 2 or three seconds, he brought it back down. "BEGIN!"

Tsunade didn't bother moving, instead, she completely dropped her combat stance, leaning back and stretching as she yawned.

"You guys can come at me anytime; using whatever you want. I don't really care."

Sasuke's eye twitched dangerously.

"I am not a fan of this woman."

"Yeah, join the club."

"What do you want to do, since she's so kindly given us all this time to plan?"

Naruto briefly considered that, thinking up plans in his head that all seemed to meet the same eventual fate; namely, failing in one way or another.

_We need to have enough firepower to knock her over, while also being flexible enough to avoid anything she throws at us. Not to mention that we have to be able to take a hit if it comes down to it…_

_Shadow clones. _His brain wisely pointed out to him. _It's always shadow clones._

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He shouted, watching as a few puffs of smoke revealed four new versions of him. "Alright, go on in and get me some data!"

He'd been paying attention to what Sasuke had said earlier during their analyses of each other, and what Jiraiya had said to him immediately after. His best friend had claimed that one of his best traits was 'analyzing his opponents and then beating them with their weaknesses'. Like Jiraiya has said, however, a lot of the time, that just sort of… worked out, so to speak.

He hadn't really meant to analyze his opponent, but the dying shadow clones did tend to give him a pretty rough idea of what he'd be dealing with.

So, after hearing Jiraiya basically call him out on the fact that he didn't pay a super lot of attention to things, he thought he'd get back at the man by… paying attention to things.

The process was slow-going, given his usual temperament, but Naruto was determined to make it work.

"Oh, Shadow clones?" Tsunade looked semi-impressed. "Not bad, not bad."

Sasuke nodded, and Naruto sent the four forward. They drew weapons from their bags and attacked.

Naruto didn't quite see what happened next, but where once there had been shadow clones, primed and ready to fetch him some useful data, there was now smoke, gently curling around Tsunade's form.

He blinked once.

"Sasuke, we can give up if you want."

"WHAT!?"

/-/

Sakura's breaths came out heavy and quick, and she was desperately panting as she fell to the floor.

She just managed to catch herself with her arms, but they were shaking as well, exhausted from having to be held in the air for nearly five hours as she passed chakra through them over and over. She appreciated the arm that Anko wrapped around her, and thanked the woman for helping her up as well, despite Sakura smelling heavily of sweat and grime, and setting her on the sound trio's usual bench.

"I… I'm sorry…" She gasped out, looking down at her trembling hands, and then at the space they'd just occupied, where the only evidence that she'd done anything at all that day was a tiny, almost invisible sprout, growing out of one of the branches of Tenzo's tree. "I failed again…"

Anko shook her head, sitting down next to her and forcing the girl to lean her body against the woman's own. Despite her teacher's show of support, she didn't try to refute Sakura's words. Even she couldn't seem to summon an argument against her students defeat.

Sakura felt like garbage.

"We'll continue with this tomorrow." Tenzo spoke simply, massaging his own arms, which was the only sign the man showed of being tired in the slightest. "Focus on what did and didn't work today and carry that with you into tomorrow."

With those final words, the man exited the room, followed immediately by Sai, who must've been in charge of making sure he didn't misbehave.

Sakura, for one, didn't particularly care at that moment.

"C'mon." Anko spoke quietly, gently nudging her with her shoulder. "We'll head on back, rest, and prepare for tomorrow."

Sakura nodded sedately, letting the woman beside her help her to her feet. She was exhausted, but then again, she had no right to feel that way. If she'd have made any progress, then perhaps she'd be allowed to feel this fatigue, she'd have earned it.

Instead, it only made her feel worse.

They stumbled through the halls, Anko eventually caving in and reaching under her, carrying her bridal style back to their shared room. The woman set her down upon her bed before excusing herself, heading off to take a shower.

As she sat in the bed, she felt a few tears begin to build up in the back of her vision, but held them back, finding herself growing angry.

_I don't deserve to have some… some pity party! _Sakura scolded herself. _I'm a failure! The only thing I deserve is to try harder._

To keep trying, over and over, until she finally understood Hashirama's lost art of wood style.

She tried to ignore the fact that she'd been doing this for a week already, and had seen literally no improvement.

She sat up, focused hard, and channeled some of her chakra from her core into her hands. She'd gotten good at that part at least, the problems came in when she tried to add complexity. Focusing hard on separating her chakra's into two different types, she found herself growing frustrated by her own inability.

The natures wouldn't separate, no matter how much she tried. They'd been giving her trouble all day, and she'd barely managed to complete the task once, let alone the hundred or so times she attempted to do so.

Her teeth clenched together as she failed once more, and anger, a white hot ball that she had no control over, seemed to fester and grow inside of her chest. She felt a small prick of pain on the back of her neck, and before she knew it, she was being swallowed.

She coughed as her curse mark brought her back to reality, clawing at the back of her neck and her left arm with her hands as she began to hyperventilate.

_Calm down! _She screamed at herself. _I practiced for this! I just need to overwhelm the curse mark with my own chakra, and then shut it down!_

She tried to collect more chakra from her core but felt only an agonizing pain. She realized a moment later that she must've been out of chakra, or , at the very least, was incredibly close.

Spittle flew from her mouth as she coughed again, feeling the curse marks tendrils overwhelm her mind. She'd never been exactly sure what it was the malevolent mark wanted from her. If it had been placed upon Sasuke, she imagined it would've been to overwhelm his mind so that he'd approach Orochimaru…

_Is… is the same thing going to happen to me!?_

She struggled on the bed, curling up into a ball as she heaved violently, trying to regain control over her body. Her left arm spasmed almost uncontrollably, trying to do whatever it was the curse mark wanted from her.

_Help me…_

"HELP!" She called out, trying to get someone, anyone's attention. "Please, I-"

Pain took her voice from her once more, and the curse mark continued to spread. It forced it's way down the front side of her chest, corrupting her body as she began to feel it's effects in her head.

The world was fuzzy, almost as if she'd just woken up, and she was starting to feel a small urge to just lay down and rest.

_Maybe if I take a nap… I'll feel a bit better. _She brought her pillow under her head as the pain faded away into the background. _Yeah… if I just…_

_Go to sleep…_

_…_

Everything was burning as a hand touched her shoulder.

She couldn't breathe, couldn't think, could barely even look at the person stood beside her, desperately pouring chakra into her.

"-k…ra!"

She closed her eyes, finding that the light above her, while dim, was still blinding. Her curse mark was still expanding, covering the entirety of her torso now.

"Help… me…" Her voice moved on autopilot, completely separate from her mind, which even now continued to be consumed by the curse mark's will.

Foreign chakra flooded her system, coursing through her as it revitalized her system. It was enough for her to regain control over some faculties, most notably her senses. It was enough to start feeling the pain again.

She screamed loudly and without recourse, writhing in place as she was held down by someone else's limbs, the limbs of at least two other's who'd entered the room. It felt like molten lava was being poured onto her neck as the curse mark began to recede, oh so terribly slowly.

It was another three minutes before the mark had fully gone away, and by that point, Sakura's voice was shot. She let herself fall back against the bed beneath her, entirely spent as tears ran down her face, unabated, for she had not the energy to still them any longer.

She looked up at the people who'd saved her, and was unsurprised to find Anko was one of them. She had clearly been interrupted in the middle of her shower, for she wore only a towel around her, and was dripping water down onto the floor beneath her from both her hair and her extremities.

She was a bit more surprised to find Kin and Dosu to be the two other's helping out.

"You guys…" Her voice was scratchy at best, barely managing to register as a whisper. "Why… did you…"

Zaku wouldn't have surprised her, at the very least, she was fairly sure the two of them were friends by this point, but his teammates…

"Don't get the wrong idea," Kin said with a sigh, massaging the bridge of her nose with her left hand. "We came because Zaku would be upset if you got hurt, and he's currently… busy."

"Busy? With what?"

"Yelling at that Tenzo guy for being rude to you." She couldn't quite tell from underneath his mask of bandages, but she was fairly sure Dosu was smirking. "Don't tell him we told you, though. I've a feeling he'd be quite upset."

She was far too tired to consider the implications of their statements, and so she looked towards the final person in the room, who was panting madly as she leaned against the back wall.

"Anko sensei… I'm sorry, if I'd just-"

"Nah, none of that."

Her eyes widened somewhat as the woman approached, lightly flicking her in the forehead as she gave her a tired smile.

"Idiot. You don't have to do this in a week."

Sakura tilted her head to the side as a desperate confusion washed over her. She wanted to believe the woman's words, but found that she couldn't.

"B-but… everyone expects me to-"

"Y'know, would you mind if I told you a story real quick?" Sakura wasn't sure what to make of her mentor's words but nodded anyways. "When the Fourth Hokage was working on a jutsu back in the olden days, He studied and studied all alone to create this one little tool. It's said it took him nearly three years to invent and perfect the ability."

Anko looked over towards her, eyes lidded as she took Sakura's hand.

"I don't mean to sound rude when I say this… but are you as good as the Fourth Hokage?"

"Uhm…" Her voice cracked as it passed by her ruined throat. "No?"

"Then stop worrying about mastering one of the world's rarest and most sought-after techniques in a week!" The woman screamed exasperatedly, getting right in Sakura's face as she panted. "You don't have to be perfect, no one's asking you to be! Hell, even the people here in Root aren't thinking they'll get immediate results! Why do you think they let that Tenzo guy finish his mission instead of rushing him back here the moment they found out about you!?"

"Uhm… I don't-"

"It's because they knew they were in it for the long-haul, Sakura!" Anko let out a long breath, before leaning forward and practically tackling her into a hug. "Jeez, I love you, Sakura, but you can be kind of clueless sometimes."

She tried to hold herself back, but couldn't help the small shudder that wracked her body as she leaned into the woman before her, wrapping her own arms around her teacher's back.

She didn't have the energy to cry, so it wasn't that long before she pulled out of the woman's grasp, smiling despite everything that happened.

"Now, c'mon you," Anko pushed her down onto the bed, picking the blanket that she'd knocked away during her mark-induced fit up off of the ground and placing it atop her. "Get some rest. And no complaints, we're going to need you if our plans going to work, alright? Can't revolt against an evil dictator when you're out of chakra, now can you?"

Sakura giggled, laying back against the pillow and almost instantly being bombarded by exhaustion.

"But, jeez, Anko sensei…" She let out in a quiet voice, a teasing smile set upon her face. "To confess to your student at a time like this, how bold…"

"Wait, what?" Anko sounded confused, before she seemed to recount her own words in her head. "Oh, you meant-"

"Yeah, not to mention that she's a minor." Kin joined in, a Cheshire smile adorning her face as she leaned against the wall closest to the door. "Jeez, I ought to report this to the city, y'know."

"For the record, I'm not a part of this." Dosu voiced quietly, stepping outside with a sigh as the rest of them continued to quip around.

"It was a familial thing! I'm not confessing to her!"

"And wearing only a towel, too." Sakura covers her face, feigning embarrassment, but really it was just to hide the massive grin growing there. "You really are so forward…"

"We were supposed to be having a nice moment!" Anko shouted. "And the two of you have to go and ruin it!"

"I think the one who ruined it is the pedophile!" Kin laughed. "Making poor Sakura there feel all uncomfortable."

"I hate you all!"

"Well clearly you don't, you just confessed to the girl, after all."

Sakura laughed as sleep overtook her, listening to the sounds of Kin and Anko argue over the latter's pedophilic tendencies. Still, there was a feeling in the back of Sakura's head, a tiny, almost absent thing that seemed to call out for her to notice.

It seemed to scream that they'd made a mistake.

/-/

_"Now, c'mon you. Get some rest. And no complaints, we're going to need you if our plans going to work, alright? Can't revolt against an evil dictator when you're out of chakra, now can you?"_

Danzo Shimura smirked uncharacteristically as the incriminating audio selection played over and over again, set up by the device in front of him to loop whenever it ended.

She'd been careful a few days ago, mapping the room she'd been in with her snakes, and checking for any audio equipment that could've caught her conversation with her student. But the girl's duress had caused Mitarashi to make an uncharacteristic mistake. She hadn't thought to check the room for any devices they'd installed while the two were out.

The grin on his face only grew as his philosophy was further confirmed. This was what emotions did to ninja. They corrupted them and made them weak, made them careless, made them make mistakes.

The ninja who'd caught the conversation turned towards him, face completely bereft of any feeling at all.

"Well, we know what they're going to do, now." The man voiced simply. "What's the plan, sir?"

"Hmm…" Danzo stroked his chin, trying to decide whether or not dealing with them now would be too hasty, and whether or not that perceived hastiness was worth waiting for Jiraiya to return.

If he acted now, assuming that they and the rest of the city were planning on ganging up and attacking him as one unit, then he would receive the advantage. However, if they had not planned to attack him, then he incited a revolt for no good reason. But Mitarashi's words were something he couldn't exactly ignore either. If she truly had planned something on her own, then taking out her, the ringleader, before she had the chance to act was also a better plan than waiting and reacting.

In the end, the choice ended up being rather simple.

"We'll act now. Contact Fu and Torune's squads, we'll have them clean up this mess." He turned to leave, content with that as instruction, before he paused, thinking up something else as well. "And… we'll have to have a scapegoat for this… Get in contact with Orochimaru, we'll hand Haruno over to him along with those three from the sound village. We'll paint the picture of him launching a covert operation to obtain the Wood Style, and to dispose of old traitors."

The man before him nodded, immediately beginning to write to the communications corps. After he'd finished his message, he turned back to Danzo.

"And what should I tell Fu and Torune's squads regarding the treatment of Mitarashi? Should we hand her over to Orochimaru as well, given the two's history?"

"No, Orochimaru's never cared about that failure of a test subject." Danzo spoke, already thinking many moves ahead on the chess board before him.

"Tell them to dispose of her."

**End Chapter 37**

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**Hey look, a cliffhanger. It's been a while!**

**It hasn't. I do these too often. ****In my defense, I've always thought they worked pretty well.**

**Naruto and Sasuke vs. Tsunade. Will the addition of a more powerful Sasuke, alongside a more powerful Naruto, be able to defeat Tsunade? Probably not, but who knows!**

**And will Sakura's brief meltdown truly be the catalyst for her teacher's death?**

**But, more importantly, will Anko Sensei's forbidden love for her student go unrequited, or will Sakura awaken to the glorious camp of Age-Gap Yuri?**

**Probably nothing regarding that last one, but perhaps the first two questions will get answered sometime in the near future, so stay tuned I guess.**

**See you all next week!**


	38. Chapter 38

**Yo, yo, yo!**

**Here for your (usually) weekly dose of weird Naruto fanfiction!  
**

**Without further ado, I think you understand by now how this works by now...**

* * *

**Chapter 38: Fight and Flight  
**

* * *

"Yo… you hangin' in there, Sasuke?"

"Hah… Never better, you?"

Naruto felt like he was dying, which he thought was pretty fair, given who the two of them were fighting. Still, not like he could admit that. His misplaced pride wouldn't allow it.

"Nah, I'm fine. Gotta say, you don't look good, sure you can keep up?"

"Heh," Sasuke must've known that he was just egging him on, it certainly wouldn't have been the first time. However, it didn't seem like the boy cared much at all, for he rose to the bait a second later, a wide smile on his face. "Pretty sure, we've gotta drag this old hag back to the leaf village anyways."

"Oi! What the hell did you just call me!?"

"Y'know, the one time you lose your cool, and it's against the most easily offended Sannin."

"Most easily offended?" Sasuke's eyebrow rose. "You called Jiraiya's toad a frog yesterday and he screamed at you for a solid minute."

"I know!" Naruto's mouth split open, an almost evil grin on his face. "It's my favorite thing in the world."

Sasuke stared at him.

"You have odd hobbies."

"You two coming at me again?" Tsunade questioned them, yawning into her hand as she scraped at the dirt below her with her toe. "If you're just giving up then could you hurry up and say it? I need a drink to make up for having to deal with this."

"She's definitely kind of an asshole, though, I agree." Naruto nodded.

"Kid, you are **_real_** lucky you're twelve."

"I'm fairly sure that was a threat." Sasuke pointed out.

"Of course it was a threat!" Tsunade confirmed. "We're fighting."

"Lady Tsunade," Her retainer groaned out disappointedly. "Please don't threaten small children."

"They started it!"

"That does not make it better."

Naruto lightly tapped his friend on the shoulder, getting the boy's attention while Shizune had the woman distracted.

"So, eh… we're probably not winning this."

"It does seem like that."

"In that case, want to try something?" Naruto asked his friend with a mischievous grin on his face.

"You tell me." Sasuke muttered quietly. "Do I, Naruto?"

"Well… maybe? I was thinking since we know we aren't winning this, we might as well try some of what we've been learning the past few days."

Sasuke seemed to consider that, tilting his head from side to side as he weighed his options.

"I suppose we could. I'm assuming you'll be using this… Rasengan, where I'll be using my new Genjutsu?"

"The word using implies that we might actually succeed." Naruto smirked. "We'll be attempting our Jutsu's, I don't know about you, but… I think I'm usually pretty alright at learning this stuff, but the third phase of this thing's been giving me hell!"

"The third phase?" Sasuke laughed quietly under his breath. "I haven't even gotten my Genjutsu to appear in any fashion."

"Oh, really?" Naruto was actually a bit surprised. Generally, Sasuke was quick about these things. "I just kind of figured you'd already have it."

"Well, if I did, you'd know it." The boy smirked. "I've been trying to cast it on you, after all."

Naruto glared at the boy, completely unsure of how to feel about that.

"I'm going to choose to take that in a positive way, in that you know I'd be fine with that, and not the negative way of 'Trying to kill me with a Genjutsu'."

"I don't think you can kill someone with Genjutsu." Sasuke rubbed his chin. "Then again, Itachi might be able to manage something like that…"

"Hey, Brats!" Tsunade shouted, pushing her retainer back out of the arena as the woman continued to complain. "If you're coming, then let's go! Otherwise I'm done!"

"You surrender?" Naruto asked hopefully.

"No, you surrender."

Naruto and Sasuke both briefly paused.

"How does that work?" Sasuke asked. "I mean, if you're the one leaving, then shouldn't you be the one who-"

"Because I'm stronger than you." Tsunade answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "If I choose to stop fighting you, I win anyways."

Naruto wasn't sure what the math on that particular calculation was, but at the same time, he also realized he couldn't exactly argue with the woman either. They'd been the ones to challenge her, one of the legendary Sannin. If she no longer wanted to humor two Genin…

"Ok, not sure quite how that works, but fine, I guess." He turned towards Sasuke. "You ready?

"As I'll ever be. Can't say I'm terribly confident in this, though."

"Yeah, same here."

"Formation?"

"I'll go up front, you follow up."

Sasuke nodded, putting his head down and beginning to focus hard on getting his Genjutsu to respond. In that moment, Naruto charged forward, summoning two shadow clones to flank him on his approach.

Tsunade was fast, almost scarily so for a fighter who Jiraiya had, in the middle of their fight, called a walking tank. Supposedly, that should've meant she was slow and deliberate, but hit hard if he left himself open. Unfortunately, it seemed that slow for a Sannin still meant you were among some of the fastest ninja's alive.

He couldn't exactly stop, though. They'd still decided they were going to drag Tsunade back to the leaf against her will, and he was itching to try out his new Rasengan. It wasn't a fully formed thing, but he was hoping, just how Sasuke and Sakura had learned mid-fight, that he could somehow master the Rasengan if given the right push.

He formed his chakra the way Jiraiya had taught him, spinning it along the imaginary tomoe on his hand, until it began to take the spherical shape he'd seen. He watched as Tsunade's eyes widened ever so slightly, and he bit back a satisfied smile. It felt good to impress someone of her level, even if it was only for a moment.

His right clone charged in first, dipping underneath her opening strike and trying to raise a kunai into her guard. The weapon was batted aside without much effort, and the clone disappeared only a moment later. Once more, Naruto hadn't even really been able to see what had been done to it, other than… that it was no longer present.

He charged in, partially formed Rasengan swirling in his right hand. His left clone was just behind him, ready to follow up in case he failed.

He never even got the chance to try. Instead, the very ground beneath him cracked open.

"Wha-!"

He fell forward, his Rasengan impacting with the ground beneath him and causing a small explosion of air and chakra. It wasn't at all like Jiraiya's example, where the man had carved a path through a full tree like it was made of butter. Still, right now, he had other concerns.

He turned back behind him, and shouted out for his friend.

"Sasuke, look-"

"Little late, brat."

Sasuke had his hands raised in surrender, Tsunade's finger on his right breast, threatening to split the boy apart like she had the ground beneath them.

"Alright, that's that." The woman lowered her finger, sighing. "But really, Jiraiya. The Rasengan?"

Naruto looked over towards Tsunade and Jiraiya, the latter of whom wasn't making eye-contact with the former.

"You know that Jutsu can only be used by you and the fourth, it's far too advanced to be teaching to some little kid."

Naruto bristled at the comment, his eyebrows drawn down in anger. He made to stand, but found his right leg was actually rather stuck in the fractured earth. He pulled for quite a while, and by the time Sasuke walked over and helped him out of his hole, Tsunade was just about to leave.

"H-Hey!" He interjected hurriedly. "Who says I can't learn to use the Rasengan!?"

"Huh?" The woman, flanked by her retainer, turned back around, wearing an oddly blank look on her face. "That's the Fourth Hokage's magnum opus, kid. Not just anyone's going to be able to use it. Especially not some Genin who looks about as green as the leaves stuck in his hair."

Naruto found that there were, in fact, quite a few leaves stuck in his sweat matted hair, and he rather embarrassedly pulled them out, trying to ignore the way Tsunade's retainer, Shizune, didn't look at him, in some misplaced effort to spare his pride.

If anything, it only further trampled it.

The two women turned back around, and without much ceremony, a quick goodbye to Jiraiya notwithstanding, they began to walk away. Naruto couldn't accept that, however, and found himself stepping forward, teeth clenched in anger.

"Well, I've already gotten this far, haven't I!?" Naruto shot back at the woman, folding his arms over his chest. "I bet I'll have it done so fast; you won't even know what hit you!"

Tsunade stilled at that, causing Shizune to turn towards her with a curious expression. She asked the woman something, but whatever the question was, it went ignored as the Sannin turned towards him, eyes almost shining.

"Oh? Then, how about this, kid…" She spoke, walking towards him with a confident grin on her face.

"Shall you and I make a bet?"

/-/

Something felt off the moment Sakura opened her eyes.

It wasn't the wave of exhaustion that hit her, or the fact that Anko was already awake, surveying the room with her eyes narrowed. It wasn't the fact that their faucet, a tiny, crappy thing that more than lived up to her ideas of a prison bathroom hadn't been turned off all the way, and dripped steadily into the sink, creating a pattern of unsettling noises.

It wasn't even the complete lack of noise aside from the ones they were making. At the very least, she'd gotten used to that over the few days they'd spent here already.

It was the way the wall's seemed to watch her, seemed to follow her every motion with some invisible, unseen eye. It was the way her senses flared, screaming at her to dodge, to attack, to defend herself.

Her instincts screamed that she was in danger, and she had learned to trust them over the course of the last few months.

"Sensei?" She turned towards Anko, watching as the woman walked towards the right wall, lightly pushing against it with her hand. "Do you-"

"Sh." Her teacher spoke without any amusement in her voice, and instantly, Sakura was silent.

Anko made a single hand-sign, before, with a motion so quick she nearly missed it, the woman's hand shot into the wall before her. The stone crumbled around her fingers, but the limb was out before it could be collapsed upon. She hadn't come out empty-handed, either.

"Ah." Anko spoke quietly, gazing down at the small device in her palm with a minuscule smirk. "That's really bad."

"Sensei?" Sakura asked, feeling the bubbling nervousness inside of her begin to boil. "What's-"

"Do you have anything here that's essential to you?" Anko asked suddenly. "Anything at all?"

"Uhm… no, but-"

"C'mon, then." The woman gripped her hand, pulling her along at a breakneck speed as she pushed their door open. "We're going. We'll get those brats from the sound village and get the hell out of here."

"Sensei, was that device-"

"Yeah, it's one of the audio recording devices I was worried about." Anko bit down on her lip, actually managing to draw a small stream of blood. "I didn't… fuck… I didn't catch it last night. I'm sorry. This is all my fault."

Sakura couldn't see how that was possible. If anything, it was her own stubbornness, mixed with her willingness to push herself beyond her limits, that had gotten them into this mess. Her teacher would've caught such a measly trap, if it weren't for her having to worry about her idiot of a student.

She relayed as much to the woman, but Anko merely shook her head, continuing to pull her along with that same guilty expression on her face. It took a moment for her to go back into her master's words and pick out a few that confused her.

"Wait, you're alright with going back for Zaku and those guys?"

"Kid, I know you well enough by now to know you wouldn't let us leave without them. Instead of arguing and wasting time, I'm just going to concede the point." Anko's smirk was, this time, quite a bit bigger, even if it was still burdened. "Besides, I've kinda' grown to like those guys."

They exited out of the cramped halls, and into Root's main corridor. She was about to voice her own agreement to the woman's statement, but before she could, she noticed a glint in the corner of her vision. Such a thing wouldn't have normally set her off, but it was approaching them at blinding speeds, and tied to it –

Anko had tackled her before she could even truly comprehend the glowing paper bomb tied to the end of the knife, and the two of them flew from the crosswalk, diving through the air as the explosion went off behind them, scattering bits and pieces of the walkway atop the two of them as they rolled to a landing some twenty or thirty feet down, landing on another, almost identical bridge.

This time, they were not alone.

The men from earlier who'd been interrogating Kin stepped forward, followed by a few ninja in masks, flanked them on both sides.

"We'll ask you once." The one Sakura remembered as a Yamanaka spoke up from their right. "Come quietly and we promise we won't hurt the girl."

"Oh?" Anko shot back, smirking in that overly-confident way she did when she wanted to mask how she really felt. "And you're not even going to include me in that list of unharmed people?"

"You've been compromised, Mitarashi." The other interrogator, the one who'd had control of the Aburame bugs, took a single step towards the two of them from the left. "You have to be dealt with no matter what."

"Ah, I see, I see." Anko right hand shook, though not in fear, as the people around her must've thought. Sakura knew the woman enough to see the way her bottom lip quivered, to see the way her eye twitched.

A raw fury, unlike anything she'd seen from her before.

"And just what would you be doing with my little student here? If I might ask?"

"That's none of your concern." Fu said with an apathetic shrug, drawing his tanto from behind him and pointing it towards the two of them. "Hand over the girl and she'll survive."

"And you honestly think I'm dumb enough to not try my luck at getting the two of us out of here?" Anko asked, the smile dropping from her face as the temperature in the room fell a few degrees. "I highly doubt you're going to kill her just because she chose to resist. You people were always far too pragmatic for holding a grudge like that."

Neither of the two said anything, which for Sakura was as clear a sign of admittance as she thought they'd get.

Anko grabbed her arm, pulling Sakura into her body in a protective gesture as the squads on both sides moved forwards at once. Briefly, she pondered whether or not they would actually meet their ends in such a horrid place.

A moment later the bridge they stood upon groaned under some sort of pressure, and everyone on it looked down, where below the structure, a complicated system of tree roots were snaking their way along the bottom, running around until they constricted the entire piece.

"Fall back!" Fu shouted to his squad, flickering from their bridge and onto another some fifty feet in the distance.

The Aburame followed suit, giving his squad the same signal and disappearing, falling back out of sight.

Before the two of them could make to run away, the bridge gave out beneath them, spilling them out and into open air. Anko grabbed ahold of her, clutching her tightly to her chest as the roots darted towards them, gripping the both of them at once and pulling them towards wherever they'd originated from. She mentally prepared herself for a fight, before remembering that there was only one person on the planet who was able to wield the First Hokage's lost art.

She sighed as they were set down beside him, panting slightly as she turned to the Anbu with a small smile.

"T-Thanks, Tenzo."

"Don't worry about it." He spoke calmly, walking onto the bridge with his hands still drawn together, not dropping his guard in case he needed to cast another Jutsu. He looked up towards Anko with a serious expression. "You need to go."

"We're aware." Anko answered, stepping past him and dragging Sakura along. "But there're some people we need to get first."

"If you're referring to the trio from the sound village, then they're coming." Tenzo signaled with his finger, pointing back towards the opening in the wall behind him. "I found them being attacked by a few lower-rung Jonin. We managed to eliminate them, and then tracked our way up here. When I felt your chakras under duress, the one with the spiky hair told me to go ahead and worry after you two first."

Anko barked out a sudden laugh, evidently rather amused.

"Did he now?"

The sound trio's movements were the first things they heard, about five or ten seconds before they emerged onto their rickety bridge, still covered in tree-roots from before.

"S-sorry we took so long!" Zaku panted as they finally caught up. "One of those bastards ambushed us from behind… nearly got Dosu… we managed to shake him off, though."

"Yeah, and I lost my gauntlet for it!" Dosu held his arm up, showing off that he did not, in fact, have a gauntlet on it any longer. "Man, if I find that kid again I swear to everything I-"

"Yes, yes, thank you Dosu." Kin sighed out, before seeing Sakura's confused expression, and explaining. "It was that Sai kid from before. He attacked the three of us. We're pretty sure he's still back there, too."

Tenzo nodded, stepping forward.

"Anko, I'm assuming you don't know the way out of here by heart?"

"Heh, you assume correctly."

"You've no qualms with me taking point, then?"

"None at all." Anko spoke with a small smirk on her face. "Lead the way, Tree-man."

"We're going to take the fastest route out," Tenzo ignored Anko's comment as he signaled them all to move forward, pointing into the gap on the opposite side, which led into more corridors. "And hurry, those two from earlier, Torune and Fu, aren't Danzo's right and left for nothing."

They rushed through the complicated mess of corridors, fighting off the occasional ninja who came their way, although as it turned out, even a highly trained Anbu wasn't much against Tenzo and Anko's combined strength. Whereas Tenzo was a moving fortress, constantly sprouting nigh unbreakable structures from his hands and body, Anko was a whirlwind of shadow and death, never in one place for longer than a moment.

Her snakes shot out from within her sleeves, biting into as many ninja's as her partner brought down with his wooden onslaught.

Sakura and the sound trio tried to help where they could, but it was clear after the first or second attempt that they were more getting in the way than anything. They'd elected instead to watch the rear, holding up decently well against their pursuers, who were surprisingly few, despite what Sakura had expected.

As they made their way out of the tunnels, and back unto the winding bridges in the central corridor, Tenzo held his hand up, and they stopped immediately, waiting for the man to give them another signal.

"We're cornered. They've been pushing us forward for a while now. Damn, that'd explain why their pursuit was so halfhearted." The man let out a small huff of frustration, likely with himself, before standing up and cracking his neck. "If I'm right, then they'll ambush us the second we exit out of this tunnel, and if we try and go back, them we'll be met with an explosive trap that will cordon us off inside of the tunnel."

"Then what do we do, sir?" Sakura asked, feeling just the smallest bit afraid.

"Anko, I'm going to have you and Sakura go first. You're the ones they want, but ultimately, you two on your own are also far faster and harder to catch than the four of us-" Tenzo gestured to himself, and the sound trio. "Will be. Avoid capture while I get these three out of here, and then I'll circle back around to help get the two of you out as well."

"There's a chance that's unnecessary." Anko argued quietly. "I say we brute force our way out as a group of six."

"That's great in theory, and if they truly aren't planning for that, then it's the best play we could make." The man agreed, before gesturing with his head towards a small glint off in the distance. "But I think you can see that that's not going to happen."

"Anti-personnel traps on the larger exits…" Anko laughed quietly. "They planned on separating us from the get-go."

Tenzo hummed his agreement.

"Alright, I get it. I don't like it, mind you, but I get it." Her teacher turned back towards her, her smile tilted slightly too much to one side, signaling how fake the expression truly was. "Sakura, we're going to have to hold on our own, got it?"

Sakura wasn't really sure how she felt about that, given that the last time they'd tried to break out on their own, they'd been swarmed by about fifty guards.

"I suppose I don't have much of a choice, do I?"

"You do, actually." Tenzo spoke. "You could come with me instead, while Anko plays decoy. It would be the same general thing, and I'd go back for her afterwards."

Sakura shook her head without even bothering to consider the idea.

"I'll stay with her." She declared.

Her teacher gave a small breath of laughter at that, as if completely unsurprised, and yet still happy to hear it.

"Well, loyal to a fault, if anything." Tenzo spoke absently, turning towards the sound trio and nodding resolutely at them. "Alright, you three, with me. We're breaking out in a hurry, so stay safe behind me, but keep up."

"Got it!"

"Alright, kiddo." Anko took her hand, giving it a light squeeze as they stepped up to the entrance. "We're going first, drawing their attention, and then booking it."

Sakura nodded, returning the gesture with her own hand as well, before standing and stepping to the side of her teacher. A moment later, Tenzo held his hand up, raising only three of his fingers, then two. Finally, he held up only one finger, and then, on the last count, he pointed the whole hand towards the entryway.

There was a brief moment of chaos as Sakura and Anko charged out of their small tunnel, running and jumping down to another walkway some twenty feet below. They heard shouting and panicked voices as multiple root members immediately tried to surround them.

"Above! They're splitting formation!" Fu shouted out, landing in front of the two of them. "Torune, you take those ones, I've got these!"

"Right!" The Aburame called back, breaking off and jumping from bridge to bridge, following Tenzo's mad dash towards the exit with a silent fervor.

Anko held her hands up towards Fu, discharging a few snakes that coiled around in the air, though they were all cut at their necks by another Root Anbu, who'd cast a simple air-based cutting Jutsu.

"Alright, now begins the hard part!"

Anko made a few quick hand signs, before slamming her palms into the ground below her. She didn't utter a word as the ground heated up, reaching an almost unbearable temperature before the stone began to melt away, and the bridge collapsed.

Fu and his squad jumped backwards, avoiding the heated area as if it were contaminated. Sakura had never seen the Jutsu before, but evidently these people had.

"C'mon!" Anko shouted back to her, taking her hand and dragging Sakura into her arms, before taking the both of them with her as she jumped into the newly formed hole.

This fall was further than the last few Sakura had gone through, and she had to admit that she wasn't exactly loving the sensation. She let out a tiny scream as Anko raised her left hand, and a dozen or so snakes shot out of it, wrapping around a nearby bridge and using it as a pendulum to jump forward, landing inside one of the tunnels that surrounded the main corridor and taking off at high speeds.

"If we're lucky, which we probably aren't since we never seem to be, then we lost them."

"Wow, way to inspire confidence."

"Not my fault our luck is terrible." Anko argued, stopping at a corner and setting her down. She looked around it, and, after seemingly determining that the coast was clear, signaled for Sakura to go ahead.

"I fail to see how it isn't at least partially your fault." Sakura fired back, sticking as close as she could to the woman as the two stepped into a small room in the middle of the hall. "I can't possibly be dragging around all of the bad luck."

"Meh, I think you could." Anko brought her hand to the wall, breaking a small hole in it and releasing a snake into the hole. It slithered through, hissing quietly as it climbed into the inner-workings. "Give me a second, I need to pay attention to this."

Sakura nodded without a word.

It took perhaps thirty seconds for Anko to finish scanning the room. By the time she finished, she breathed a small sigh of relief.

"No camera's here." Anko revealed, stepping into the space and beginning to form some hand-signs. "I don't think we'll be able to hide forever, since they've still got some of the world's best infiltration and tracking ninja's here, but at the very least, we can buy ourselves a good twenty or so minutes."

Anko gestured for her to come over, and Sakura followed.

"What's the plan, then?"

"I'm going to use a fairly high-level Jutsu to meld our appearances with the wall behind us." Anko pointed with her thumb. "It's just a camouflage Jutsu, so it's not like it's going to be unbreakable or anything like that, but at the very least, anyone below Jonin here isn't going to be able to find us, and I'd like to think I could hide us from a few regular Jonin as well."

"There are people below Jonin rank here?" Sakura asked, actually a bit confused about that. "I kind of figured this was an elite organization."

"You wouldn't be wrong to have figured that, to be fair." Anko finished out her series of hand signs, before, with a flick of the wrist, she slapped her hand against the wall behind them, and then once more against hers and Sakura's foreheads. "One second, let this take effect, and then I'll explain."

Anko held her hand up, forming the symbol 'hare' before she spoke the final line.

"Hidden Jutsu: Striking from Shadows!"

There was an odd sensation in Sakura's stomach. It felt a bit like she hadn't eaten in several days and was suddenly feeling the effects of starvation all at once. It lasted for a good five seconds, before she let out a loud gasp as the feeling ended.

_"What was that?"_ She tried to ask, but her voice was odd, different in some way she couldn't quite tell. _"Wait… whoa…"_

_"Heh" _Anko's confident voice sounded out from beside her. _"A little Jutsu I came up with for longer infiltration missions. It's a fairly simple camouflage-based attack Jutsu."_

She felt something on her arm, despite the fact that she was only just now realizing she was buried in the wall they'd been standing against just a moment prior. After a moment, she realized it was Anko's arm, lightly poking and prodding her.

_"Ok, you're right there. Good. I was pretty sure, but I just wanted to check that I hadn't accidentally launched you like fifty feet into the canyon or something."_

Sakura's eyes widened slightly.

_"Was… was that a possibility?"_

_"Well, technically, I'd never actually used this on anyone more than just me before, so… It could've happened?"_

She glared at the woman, despite being unable to see her.

_"Every time I think you care about me; you go and say something like that."_

_"Hey! I do still care about you! I would've been able to get you out!"_

_"Yes, yes, thank you, master." _Sakura muttered under her breath. _"So what's actually happening right now? Are we actually in the wall, or__…?"_

_"Technically yes, but also technically no." _Anko admitted. _"It's the only earth-based Jutsu in my arsenal, but basically, it makes a perfect us shaped indent in the wall, which we then climb into, and then I seal the exit. Well, I mostly seal the exit. Obviously we need to breath but___…" __Anko's voice trailed off. _"Y'know what, how about you just trust me when I say it probably won't kill us?"_

_"What do you mean 'Proba-"_

_"A-Anyways!" _Anko stuttered out, pausing for a moment in a show of hesitation that was completely unlike her. _"As I was saying before, the reason there are people below the rank of Jonin here is because of the kids they train."_

_"Wait, there are kids here?"_

_"You saw that Sai boy, right? Yeah, he's not the only kid who's been robbed of the chance of living a normal life around here, and as much as I'd like to say he will be, he probably won't be the last, either." _Anko sighed, a weary, heavy thing that distorted somewhat from reverberating through the wall around them. _"Kids are trained practically from birth around here… not actually, Danzo doesn't have some weird pregnancy policy or anything, but he picks kids up from just about anywhere he can get his hands on them."_

Sakura shook slightly, feeling an odd wave of fear settle over her, before dissolving a moment later.

_"Anko Sensei, did you-"_

_"Feel that? Yeah." _The woman let out a tired sigh. _"We haven't been spotted yet, but they'll find us here soon. Just a matter of time with them."_

_"So… what's the plan for when we get out of here?" _Sakura asked, wanting to use the time they had to clear away some of her doubts. _"I mean… I get the whole 'Rebel against evil dictator' thing, but, like, what exactly are we doing?"_

_"The basic plan is rather simple, honestly." _Anko admitted. _"We break out of here, gather up a small army once Jiraiya gets back with Tsunade, and demand Danzo's surrender. If he doesn't, we rip his roots out of the ground by force."_

_"That sounds weirdly symbolic."_

_"It kind of does, I agree. It's not the most glorious plan in the world, but we can't very well serve a Kage who's working with the person who killed the last one, now can we?"_

_"We definitely can't." _Sakura agreed.

_"Ah…" _Anko paused suddenly, and though Sakura couldn't see her, she could guess that the look on the woman's face was one of intense concentration.

_"Did they find us?"_

_"Yeah." _Anko spoke without any hang-ups, having fully expected this to happen. _"Careful, they're not going to go easy."_

_"I know, trust me." _Sakura spoke with a small smile. _"I've dealt with quite a lot of people trying to kill me in the last few months."_

_"Heh, I can't help but think that's probably not something to be joking about, but whatever."_

Anko grabbed Sakura's hand, pulling her, along with herself, out of the stone wall they'd been sat inside. As they emerged, it felt like they were breaking the surface of the water after having been dove beneath it. It wasn't entirely uncomfortable, but it wasn't exactly something she'd sign up for either.

When her eyes adjusted a moment later, they were stood in front of two ninja that Sakura recognized.

"Sakura Haruno." The doctor she'd named Ra spoke simply, offering her hand out to her. "We will offer a different proposition. Surrender to us, and we will spare Anko's life."

"Please comply." Sai voiced out from beside her, taking the mask off of his face to reveal deathly pale features, almost completely white in their complexion. "This need not become a battlefield."

Sakura did, for the briefest of moments, consider simply giving herself over to them. If it would save Anko's life, then maybe, just maybe she should –

_But no, I couldn't. _Sakura smiled, closing her eyes, and bringing her hands together. _Even if I tried, Anko would just put herself in harms way to get me back out, and that would only serve to put us at a disadvantage._

_In that case…_

Sakura opened her eyes once more, breathing out her worries, her doubts, her fears, and hesitations. She focused entirely on the battle before her, prepared, above all else, to survive.

_Those two would never forgive me if I didn't. _She thought with a smile. _Though…_

_I hope wherever they are, they're having a better go of it then me…_

/-/

Naruto sighed as he failed once again to form the Rasengan in his open palm. It wasn't the actual formation that was giving him trouble, after all, there were far harder things than manifesting chakra in your hands.

The real hard part was control.

"Hey, Naruto?" Sasuke called from just in front of him, where he'd been trying to put him under a Genjutsu for the past three hours. "You making any progress?"

"Not really." Naruto admitted. "You?"

"Depends. Do you feel like you're under an illusion?"

"No?"

"Then no."

Naruto nodded at that, focusing hard as he tried to force chakra into his palms. A moment later, he fell backwards, the force of a chakra-based explosion knocking him backwards. It was becoming harder and harder to control the dwindling supplies of chakra inside his body as the day went on.

"Naruto?" Sasuke asked him suddenly.

"Hm?"

"Do you think we maybe should've stayed in the Leaf Village?"

Naruto's eyebrows drew down.

"Where's this coming from?"

"Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I was there to save you from Itachi and everything, but…" He trailed off for a moment, before he sighed, and then continued. "I guess I was just worried about Sakura. I mean, she accidentally learns the Wood Style, and then she and Anko went away for training, and I… I'm just worried something's happened.. Like… what if she needs our help?"

"Yeah, I kinda' get you." Naruto admitted, sitting crisscross on the ground just before the boy. "But at the same time, we gotta have faith in her, y'know."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it."

"Besides," Naruto spoke with a wide, sunny smile.

"I'm sure everything's going totally fine."

**End Chapter 38**

* * *

**I mean… there's jinxing it, and then there's that, Naruto.**

**Not much to say this week, other than that this story will, once more, be taking a week long break. Nothing major's happening, but combining working on this with wanting to work on a bunch of other projects really does eat into my time a lot.**

**Rest assured, I'm certainly not stopping this story, even if it does annoy me from time to time.**

**OK, more like all the time, but you get what I mean.**

**Oh, right, just to clarify, Tsunade made the same bet with Naruto that she does in canon. Nothing's changed in that regard. I didn't show it because there'd be no point, it would've just been the same exact thing.**

**See you in two weeks!**


	39. Chapter 39

**Guess who's back!**

**It's not that hard to figure out. My name's right below the title.**

**Anyways, without further ado, let's just go. **

* * *

**Chapter 39: Power Born from Necessity  
**

* * *

Fighting with her life on the line had a funny way of putting things into perspective for Sakura. Last night, she'd been worried about being unable to summon a tree with her hands, so caught up in her desire that she'd nearly gotten herself absorbed by the curse mark's power.

…Which really did start to seem quite asinine when she was forced to dodge three direct slashes from a small knife, any one of which could've lodged itself into her neck or torso and ended her life.

Sai wasn't trying to kill her, that much she knew for certain. He'd been given direct orders from Danzo to bring her back alive. But that didn't mean he was omniscient. Sakura could still have tripped, or evaded slightly too slowly, or come up just short on a jump, and then, suddenly, despite the boy's desire, she was a corpse on the end of his blade.

She shivered slightly as the boy's blade nicked her arm, drawing blood but otherwise leaving her uninjured. She was still a bit low on chakra from the previous day's experiments, but she didn't have any problems calling some water chakra into her stomach, forcing it up through her throat, and expelling it in the form of a quick, almost razer sharp stream of water.

Her opponent dodged under it, and after she followed him with her head, he cut into the jet of water with his tanto, splitting the stream in half as he dashed forwards.

Sakura was calm as she blocked his first attack but lost her cool a bit as he came at her again, far faster. His second and third attacks struck inside her guard, landing solidly on her upper chest, and on her left breast, respectively.

She flinched, but managed to bite down on the pain, choosing to chain the boy's brief moment of downtime as he backed away from her as an opportunity to let loose another water bullet.

This time, Sai was forced to show off what he could do. He dodged underneath the bullet of liquid, before bringing a brush out of his pouch and, with an almost blinding speed, brought it across a small scroll. From out of the scroll came 3 or 4 birds made of ink, which proceeded to fly towards her, pecking at her head and just being a general nuisance.

It wasn't a terribly effective Jutsu for combat, but it certainly served it's purpose of keeping her occupied while the boy worked on something else. She slashed at the birds with a kunai, barely managing to get two of them before the boy brought his hand up in front of him.

It was a simple activation seal, the kind used for breaking out of Genjutsu or activating ninja traps. A second later, a massive centipede rose from Sai's canvas, clicking it's jaws together in a rather unsettling display. Sakura cringed slightly as the beast looked towards her, even if it technically had no eyes.

She hopped backwards, taking the time she was dodging to examine where Anko's fight was at. The woman had opted to fight her fellow Jonin, Ra, which Sakura had felt was probably a good idea, given that she would've been absolutely demolished by the woman had she tried to fight her.

Watching Jonin fight, even for the brief moment she was allowed before being distracted once more by Sai's drawing was… incredible. Their movements were faster than she could ever dream of being, their attacks came out not one at a time, but in flurries and combinations, chaining together from one to the next. And yet, despite all of that, they never once faltered. They were never afraid to jump between two attacks they knew they could dodge, never hesitated to sidestep an attack, rather than block it. It was almost like a dance, as odd as it may have sounded to say.

The birds that continued to peck at her face, at her eyes, and around her hair were really starting to get annoying, however. She just barely managed to tag another with her Kunai, dissipating it, before the Centipede caught her. It wasn't a terribly effective thing for fighting her, and it was far slower than she'd first feared it would be. Truly, it was likely the creature didn't have much in the way of a brain, but more acted on certain orders.

Still didn't mean she wanted to be caught by it.

She brought her hands together to form a fast set of seals, wincing slightly as the last of the four paint-birds bit her on her earlobe, and she resolved silently to make sure that particular one got a good, clean hit with her kunai. She brought her chakra-laden palms to the floor, shouting out "Earth Style: Mud Wall!". The floor rose just below the multi-legged creature chasing her, upending it and forcing it on it's back on the other side of the wall.

In the meantime, before it could recover, she slashed at the final bird, finally dispelling it, before she threw that same kunai at where Sai was sitting, quietly scribbling away at the massive scroll before him.

He caught the blade without even looking up at her, which pissed Sakura off in a way she couldn't quite describe.

A second later, the centipede she'd momentarily forgotten about rounded the corner of her mud wall, spreading it's jaws and threatening to close them around her now outstretched arm. She barely got her arm out of it's reach, before hopping backwards again. Her eyes widened, however, as she impacted against the stone wall behind her.

_Ah, shit! _Sakura realized with a small bit of panic. _J__udged the distances wrong._

She barely managed to duck underneath the creatures jaws, stabbing up into the bottom of it's jaws a second later, and causing the creature to dissolve. Even if it was gone, it seemed like Sai had finished whatever it was he'd been working on, for he brought his hand up once more, and activated whatever was on the page.

Three dozen large snakes coursed out of his paper, slithering across the ground and gunning for her. They were fast, far faster than the centipede before had been, and she realized with a hiss of her own that that thing's speed must've been a method to catch her off guard with these.

She tried to make some distance, but with the wall behind her, she couldn't find the ability. The snakes caught her within a few seconds, wrapping around her limbs and weighing her down heavily. A few wrapped themselves around her arms, then her legs, until finally, the only part of her that were uncovered by their bindings was her face.

She squirmed for a moment, trying to get her left hand into the pouch on her back and reach for a Kunai, but she found herself unable to move much at all. Sai walked towards her quickly and deliberately, sheathing his tanto and reaching out towards her.

Without any real warning, the boy was blasted to the side, impacting against the wall across from him a second later, and slumping down as he clutched his shoulder. Sakura barely had time to be surprised before the painted snakes coiled around her burst into ink, and Anko blocked a hit from behind by Ra.

"Sorry that took me a second." Anko let out with a small grin, talking through clenched teeth as she growled under her breath. "Had to break away from this bitch."

"T-Thanks!" Sakura managed to bring herself to speak, before pushing up off of the ground and pulling out a kunai. "I won't waste it!"

Anko laughed sharply, before parrying Ra's next attack and pushing into her, forcing the woman to jump backwards, lest she be caught by any of the snakes now flowing freely from Anko's sleeve.

Sakura couldn't focus on the two of them, though. She needed to finish what she'd started and defeat Sai, before the boy could manage to take her hostage again.

_If they manage to get me captured, they could use me as leverage against Anko… _Her eyes narrowed. _I won't let that happen._

As she charged towards the boy, who had just managed to get to his feet, she heard an odd sound come from the center of the room. A feeling washed over her that she couldn't quite place, and she felt an odd compulsion to gaze towards the center of the room, completely ignoring Sai, who even now was recovering from the hit Anko had landed against him.

Her eyes were like saucers as she trained them upon the man stood there, holding a boy up with one hand like he weighed nothing at all.

"Sakura Haruno, Anko Mitarashi!" The man shouted, drawing their attention as he drew a knife from his bag. "If you don't want this boy to come to harm, then you'll surrender yourselves immediately!"

_Zaku._

The Oto ninja was struggling in the older man's grip, trying to regain some semblance of control in the situation, but it was obvious from the way the man's arm barely strained, from the way he held the kunai to Zaku's neck with a casual ease, that it wasn't working.

"Sakura!" The boy shouted; eyes oddly panicked. "H-help me!"

Her head ached as the boy shouted and screamed, desperately begging for assistance as the knife inched ever closer to his throat. Sakura took a single step forward, surprised when Anko didn't voice her complaint.

In fact, the woman was strangely still.

"Anko Sensei!?" She called out to the woman, wanting at the very least some advice. "What do we do!?"

"I don't know, Sakura." Anko responded simply. "Do whatever it is you want. I can't help you."

_What!? _Sakura almost shouted aloud, as caught up in her confusion as she was. _You're never like this, why are you suddenly putting all of the onus on me!?_

A theory popped into her head a second later.

Idly, she went to bring her hands up in front of her, forming a small seal that she knew by heart from having it drilled into their heads when they were students. As she made to form the hand-signs, however, Sai charged towards her.

He did not speak, nor, truly, did she expect him to.

After all, this wasn't real.

"Release!" She shouted as loud as she could, sending a pulse of chakra through her own body in an effort to disturb her natural flow.

There was a shake, as if the world and everyone in it had shifted ever so slightly, but then nothing.

She opened her eyes, expecting to find herself out of the illusion, but instead, the only thing she was greeted with was the same familiar scene from before.

_Wha– _

Sai's foot impacted against the side of her face, jamming her thoughts then and there and launching her to the side. She tried to withstand the throbbing in her head, eyes wide as she was met with another barrage of hits.

_Why?_ Sakura thought frantically as she barely dodged another few hits from Sai, looking behind her and seeing that Anko was still frozen in place, eyes dull and lifeless. _Why!?_

_Why can't I break free!?_

In front of her, Zaku's body hit the floor, entirely lifeless. She felt like screaming but knew she couldn't. The man was holding another Zaku already.

"Help!" The new copy called out feverishly, clawing at the hand around his throat. "Sakura! Please!"

"SHUT UP!" She called out to the fake before her, bringing her hands in front of her once more. "RELEASE!"

Nothing changed, and now she began to breathe heavily, panic circulating through her as she jumped backwards…

Directly into Ra's grip.

"Stay still, Ms. Haruno." The woman spoke, her hand like iron on Sakura's shoulder. "You will be hurt if you continue to struggle."

The limb moved upwards in one motion, gripping her neck hard. She could barely breathe as Ra forced her against the wall, her left hand gripping her wrist, and a third, almost inhuman hand rose from behind the woman's body.

In it was a single needle, filled with an unidentifiable black liquid.

"S-stop…" She muttered quietly under her breath, her head subconsciously moving away from the sharp injection moving towards her. "STOP!"

The world seemed to crack, as if everything were warping, separating from each other as the very universe unwound. After perhaps an hour, or maybe just a few seconds, she found herself back where she'd been before, stood beside Anko as the woman held her up.

"Sakura!"

Her mentor shouted at her, lightly shaking her with one hand as she used the other to point her kunai forward, lightly swinging it to make sure the other three people in the room, one of which she recognized as the person who'd been holding Zaku in her dream, didn't get any funny ideas and attack.

"I'm-" She felt herself falter, momentarily blacking out, before manually forcing herself back, biting the inside of her cheek to keep herself grounded. "I'm fine."

She was panting, and judging from the look Anko shot her, the woman didn't exactly believe her declaration. She felt that was fair, but they didn't exactly have any options. Either she was could handle the strain this new arrival's Genjutsu had left on her, or they were screwed.

Anko's left hand, the one that wasn't being used to fend off their attackers, dug into the pouch on her back, until she seemed to find what she was looking for. She brought a clenched fist out a second later, before offering the contents to Sakura.

Sakura didn't recognize the object being presented to her. It was an odd, purplish-black ball. It gave off no distinctive smell, aside from the smell of salt that came from Anko's clammy palm.

"Look, I know it's sweaty from my hand and probably won't taste very good but just trust me and eat it."

Sakura nodded without any fuss, taking the small orb and putting it between her teeth. With a single crunch, she broke the outer wall apart, and tasted the inside for the first time.

She nearly threw up right there. Even still, she couldn't spit it out. Anko had told her specifically that it wasn't going to taste great, but that it'd be important. She simply stomached the taste in her mouth and, with a great deal of effort, downed the rest of the contents without tasting them.

Almost immediately she began to feel it's effects.

"What…" Her body felt lighter, and her vision began to clear. The haze around her mind parted somewhat, and she could no longer feel the residual ringing from when she'd been hit by Sai in that Genjutsu. "What was that thing?"

"It's a food pill." Anko explained simply, drawing her hands together in a complex order of signs as the relative peace they'd been experiencing broke down. "Shit, I'll explain later!"

"R-right!" She dodged away from Anko and towards Sai as he and Ra charged into them once more, though this time, something was different right off the bat.

She recognized the feeling immediately, and before she could be caught in the illusion, she brought her hands up and swept the Genjutsu from her mind with a simple "Release!".

Still, the new arrival made something abundantly clear to Sakura.

"Sensei, we can't stick around here!"

The woman formed her own release seal, and it took Sakura a moment to realize she was likely caught in a Genjutsu far more powerful than her own. The man across from them was looking towards her, after all. It made sense his power would mostly be allocated there.

Anko seemed to break out a moment later, ducking underneath one of Ra's slashes and bringing her arm up, launching a set of snakes at the woman that knocked her backwards, and left her with a few bites as well.

"Yeah, you're right!" Anko brought her hands up, making the same activation seal Sai had formed earlier, and instantly Ra was completely still. "Alright, on my signal!"

Sakura felt that "on my signal!" was a bit vague, given she had no idea what said signal would be, but shrugged and nodded anyways, clashing her own kunai against Sai's redrawn tanto. In but a moment, the Genjutsu artist at mouth of the room was knocked off his feet, and with barely any delay after that, Sai found himself face first in the concrete.

"Alright, let's move!" Anko shouted, taking Sakura's hand and pulling them both out of the room. "Heh, that worked out surprisingly well."

"Wait, your signal was "Alright, let's move!"?" Sakura asked skeptically.

"No, my signal was the hand motion you missed by turning to fight that Sai guy." The woman didn't glare at her, but her jokingly annoyed tone seemed to say that somehow that was her fault.

"You do realize you never actually said what the signal was, right?"

"Yeah, but I implied it." Anko sighed. "And you went and missed my implying. How sad."

"I hate you."

"Oi! I was kidding, got it? Kidding!"

"So, that food pill thingy, what was that?"

"Ah, right." Anko brought a second out of her bag, and popped one into her own mouth. "They're basically raw energy. They'll keep you going even when you're exhausted, generally at the cost of energy later on. If you take a few of 'em, you can keep yourself going for a few days at a time, provided, of course, that you're basically going to be dead for a few weeks afterwards."

"Huh."

"Yeah, they're useful for situations like this, but they can be pretty risky." Anko surmised. "That and they taste awful."

The brief silence created by her own laughter got her thinking about something they'd left behind in the room behind them.

"Uhm, about Ra…" Sakura posed the question under her breath. "That poison you used on her to make her seize up…"

Anko barked out a quick laugh.

"Don't worry, it's not going to kill her." Anko's smile became slightly less bright. "That's one of the few non-lethal techniques Lord Snakesforbrains ever taught me. It's a simple paralyzing agent mixed into the venom of a mildly poisonous snake. Makes for some good stopping power when you need someone alive."

"Yeah, I can sort of see-"

There was an indistinct clicking noise that, despite being about as quiet as a pin drop, managed to cut its way into their conversation. She tried to say something, bring it up to her mentor, ask her if maybe she'd heard it too, but by the time she turned to look at Anko's face, the woman was already on her, eyes wider than she'd ever seen them.

"SAKURA! GET DOWN!"

Sakura barely had time to think about the woman's instructions before the hall around them burst into flames. The pain came hot and fast, coursing over her body for barely a moment, and yet still causing her to cry out as she was tackled to the ground.

There was a moment of complete and utter silence as the flames died out, accompanied only by her breathing, but the moment soon passed, and she found herself taking stock of the situation.

Absolute terror had a funny way of making her do that.

The bomb that went off had been embedded in the wall to their left, or, at least, that was her best guess, given the way the stone had been slightly concave in the last second Sakura's eyes had still been looking towards it. The explosion had been caused by a fire based Jutsu, an anti-personnel trap designed to take down a corridor of people, or, at the very least, to injure them severely.

Anko was on top of her, having shielded her from the brunt of the blast. The woman had drawn her trench coat around them both to prevent Sakura from being too badly burned, but the single piece of clothing could only do so much to keep the flames from burning into them. Sakura's own arms ached incredibly, for they'd taken the brunt of the initial blast as she'd brought them up in front of her as a makeshift shield.

As the terror wore off, and was replaced instead by crazed panic, her natural instincts allowed her to, instead of focusing on herself, worry about the woman laying atop her. She reached up to touch the woman's neck and found–

No pulse.

There was a moment of complete silence as she slid the woman's body off of her own. Anko's form was unmoving as it fell to a stop next to her own, her eyes still clenched shut from when she'd tackled them both to the floor.

_I wonder if it was the shock of the initial explosion, _Sakura wondered, completely bereft of emotion. _Or… maybe the smoke got to her lungs… no, it was too quick for that…_

She prodded the woman's cheek softly, idly marveling at the way her skin indented.

_Yeah. It has to have been the initial explosion. She was right next to it as well. The shock waves just blew right through her…_

_Anko…_

Something about staring at the woman's face snapped whatever shock she'd been under.

"ANKO!" She screamed, turning the woman on her back and rifling through her mental encyclopedia of emergency treatments. "I… I…"

She was hyperventilating like crazy, and her vision was encased in tears that she fought hard to keep under control. Anko's coat had been almost entirely blown away on the back, but from the front she looked mostly normal. No terrible burns that would've indicated a messier kind of death.

She tried to force herself to breathe clearly as her vision swam. It wasn't working. No matter what she did, she couldn't manage to force enough air into her lungs to breathe. She was going to pass out, she was going to–

_"SNAP OUT OF IT!" _Her inner self screamed at her, practically dragging her mind back into consciousness. "_You know what to do when you're hyperventilating! Breathe deeply, purposefully! Pursed lips! Breathe low, and hold your breaths! If you pass out, who's going to save Anko!?"_

_Right._ She forced herself to breathe as deeply as she could, forcing the breaths through her pursed lips, following her own advice as best she could. _I have to save her… She's always doing so much for me… She's always taking care of me and watching over me__… I can't__… I will **not **let her die!  
_

She wracked through her brain once more, trying to summon up the missing piece of the puzzle, the final link that would tie it all together and save her teacher…

She recalled, extraordinarily vaguely, that Iruka Sensei had once taught them something related to emergencies around the heart… but…

She couldn't recall what he'd said in particular, other than–

_"When someone's heart stops, there's only one thing you can do. You must restart the heart via a powerful Lightning Jutsu. Other than that, forcing beats via a set of compressions is all you can do. That won't save them, though. You're basically just buying time until someone with those capabilities shows up.  
_

Her own heart very nearly stopped.

They weren't Iruka's words, but the words of one of the Leaf Hospital's top surgeons. He'd been willing to answer a few of Sakura's questions when Naruto had nearly been killed, oh so long ago in the land of waves…

But now those same words damned her.

She possessed no Lightning Jutsu.

She brought her hands to the woman's left breast, brought her hands slightly to the right, and began to pump in small intervals. It was all she could do. All she could to was hope to the gods above that somehow her heart would restart itself with her help.

_It won't. _A cold and logical voice seemed to shout from the depths of her subconsciousness. _There's nothing you can do._

_"Don't listen. Keep going."_

_It's not going to do anything!_

"SHUT UP!" She screamed out to nothing in particular, tears rolling in streaming bursts down her face. "Shut up, shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!"

She looked up, desperately searching the surrounding corridors for anyone, anything that could help her.

"ANYONE!" She cried out with reckless abandon, uncaring if someone caught her because of it. "PLEASE, HELP! PLEASE!"

Her voice was losing intensity.

"Please… I…" Tears flowed like rivers, and a horrid, aching sob wracked her entire form. "There's… there's nothing I can do… Please…"

She hadn't stopped pumping, and yet her hands seemed to slow as the tears began to fall on them. Her eyes shut, as if accepting what had happened, as if accepting what she'd lost.

As if accepting that Anko really was d–

_Hashirama could heal._

She felt she should've hesitated there. She felt as if, in that moment, there should've been some modicum of doubt, a tiny piece of her that shouted that she couldn't reach the man's level, that she wouldn't be able to measure up in any way.

Something to tell her that she couldn't save her teacher.

Sakura was glad there wasn't. She didn't have the energy to ignore it.

Her eyes shot open faster than they ever had, and she brought her hands out once more towards Anko's form. She focused hard, harder than she had when Naruto had almost died on the bridge those months ago in the wave, or when she'd been useless fodder caught in Kin's arms and broken out. She focused harder, even, than she had yesterday, when Anko's own chakra had helped bring herself back from the brink of madness thanks to the curse mark's power…

And she let that very power free.

The curse marked covered her more completely than it ever had before. It wound across her left arm and chest, as it normally did, but this time, it didn't stop. It kept flowing across her body until it was upon her right arm, until it coursed down her pelvis, and until it fully encased her left leg. Her right leg was the only uncorrupted piece of her, but she didn't much care at that moment.

She needed the extra power.

Sakura focused hard on her chakra natures, Earth, and Water, and did the same training she'd been doing the entire week. She held her hands out in front of her, allowing the twin natures to mix for the first time, and let the curse mark's own chakra flow into her.

It was as if she already knew what it was she was looking for. A certain, almost arbitrary point on the scale was where she stopped adding the curse marks power, and with barely a thought, she forced it into retreat, making it snake it's way back up her leg and inhabit only her torso.

She had no real talent for Ninjutsu. It wasn't that she lacked the control, but she lacked the power most of all. She had no true talent for Genjutsu either, for she lacked the imagination in order to use it properly.

But from what she'd heard, healing was an entirely different kind of Jutsu. It utilized almost exclusively control, in order to apply chakra where it was needed.

She'd be attempting it on the fly, with no practice, no training, nothing. Nothing but a desperate hope and a children's story book that had once told her of a proud warrior named Hashirama, the strongest man to ever live.

She brought her hands over Anko's heart, and with a rasping scream, she unleashed everything she had.

As she let the energy flow through her wrists and into her fingers, small sprouts, almost like thorns, punctured her skin from inside, winding their way through her flesh, muscles, and bone, and nearly causing her to faint from pure agony. She endured through grit alone, forcing herself to keep pumping chakra into those broken hands…

And after another second, the space before her palms began to glow a faint, but radiant green.

It was a feeling impossible to describe. It was as if, in that small, minuscule moment of time, she understood some infinitesimal bit of how life worked. She forced more chakra into her hands and directed it specifically at the muscles in and around Anko's heart. She began to restart her compressions, finding that she could still heal while acting, which was a massive relief. She'd have to apologize to Anko when she woke up for the numerous puncture wounds now adorning her breast. It would be a bit hard to explain they'd been from her driving thorns into them over and over again.

Her head went entirely blank after that. It was a long couple minutes spent pounding her hands into Anko's body. After an agonizingly long period of time, in which she'd nearly blacked out over seven times, she allowed herself to take a small break. She didn't stop pushing chakra into her palms, fearing that if she did, she'd lose the secret to making Hashirama's healing work in the first place.

She put her ear to Anko's chest, and listened for any–

_Ba-bump._

It was a quiet, almost absent sound. A tiny thing that should've meant nothing, taken for granted like it always was.

She scrambled to Anko's neck, pushing down perhaps slightly too hard on the woman's artery with two of her only non-thorny fingers.

It was such a pathetic thing, the woman's pulse. It barely even registered at all on the tips of her fingers, and even as she pulled them away once, she felt the need to push them against the vein again, just to be absolutely sure the feeling hadn't been a lie, some cruel trick by the universe to get one last laugh out of her.

When she drew away again, she let her hands fall to the floor beside her as she fell to her knees, her legs spilling out beside her on either side.

She giggled quietly, an almost maddening feeling of euphoria washing over her. She let her head rock backwards, and then, with a massive smile, she simply screamed. It was a raw, guttural noise that she was fairly sure she'd never be able to replicate. It was all of her fear and doubt, all of her terror and hesitation, all of her agony and hardship, all crystallized into one, single sound.

And then it ended, sputtering to a stop as her energy faded completely. The adrenaline of Anko dying, and then her revival, was a bit too much.

But it was funny… she felt a bit more tired than she felt she should've. It was a different kind of tired, and she had a slightly foreboding feeling that this particular sleep would be…

Longer than most…

"Honestly, you shouldn't go shouting like that in an enemy base." A voice called out from her left. "You're going to have a whole lot more people after you now, you know?"

She spun as quick as she could, some eighteenth wind filling her as she brought her arms up in front of her.

No, there were no arms, and she hadn't managed to control her spin at all. Instead, she'd merely fallen next to Anko, completely spent.

The new arrival sighed as she walked over to Sakura and Anko, looking at the latter's unconscious form with an intrigued expression.

"D-don't… touch her… I'll…" Sakura hadn't even realized she was speaking until her voice died in her throat.

"Oh, trust me, I know." The woman laughed. "You're quite strong, someone as weak as me would never be able to cross you."

She reached over and lightly pulled Sakura into her, before, with a small bit of pain, a liquid was being injected into her neck.

"What… is…"

"Just a chakra booster, nothing more." The woman giggled once more under her breath, gazing towards Anko with a faraway look. "Honestly, you completely overused your chakra. If I hadn't given this to you, you'd have certainly died."

Sakura had a feeling that if she were any less tired, that would've been a sobering thought. At the moment, not even it could crack through her exhaustion.

"P-ple… se… don't kill… her…" Her voice was forced past the block in her throat.

"Don't worry, I won't." The woman answered her with a small smile. "I'm glad I was able to do this… I'd been looking for a way to thank you, really."

"Wh…at?"

The newcomer turned back around, a tiny, sad smile adorning her face as she met Sakura's own gaze.

"For asking me my name." Ra spoke quietly. "Because… despite how small a question it might've seemed to you… like I said before… we were once human… and, well… I was thinking… maybe it's about time we remembered that."

Sakura sat silently as the woman's words washed over her. She didn't have the strength to say anything, but she liked to hope her weak smile was enough to convince the woman she thought the idea was a good one.

"The other's will be here soon." Ra told her, reverting once more to her emotionless state, though there was a certain stubbornness behind her eyes that Sakura hadn't noticed before. "Do take care not to die."

With that, the woman disappeared.

Sakura felt the exhaustion catch her a second later, her eighteenth and most likely final wind dying down rather quickly. Even still, she couldn't rest, not until she and Anko were out of here. Saving the woman's life would be meaningless if they were just caught the moment after.

Despite that altruistic thought, her legs were having none of it. They refused to budge even an inch, and her arms were much the same, so she couldn't even crawl.

Just as she was beginning to pass out, the wall beside her cracked, and she looked towards it with a wide-eyed stare, somehow finding a nineteenth wind, and knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that when this whole Root thing was over, she was going to be out like a light for the next several weeks.

She couldn't quite combat her relief when the figure on the other side of the collapsing wall was revealed to be Tenzo. He spoke to her, but apparently her nineteenth wind was not only much shorter than the other eighteen had been, but was also officially as far as she could push it, because she fell backwards against the stone wall behind a moment later, too exhausted to care about the fact that the man would have to carry both of them.

Idly, she noticed an oddly shaped object on the tip of her right pointer finger. It was affixed to one of the couple dozen or so thorns that had grown out of her hands and weaved their way into her flesh. Her eyes traced the line of the point to the very end, where, atop the thorn, like a meaningless crown, grew a single, small cherry blossom.

She smiled as the unconsciousness set in.

/-/

Anko gasped, sitting up in a panic as she breathed in heavily. She had one, solitary thought as she tried to stand herself up.

_Wow. I'm in immense pain._

"Hey!" A man called from over to her left, a scruffy sort of goatee on his chin that looked a bit stupid in her personal opinion. "No movement! We're still not sure if you're alright yet!"

She allowed the man to push her back down, sighing deeply as he ran a hand down his face in exasperation.

"All you goddamned kids overexerting yourselves." The man leaned back, sitting back down at the edge of the small tent they inhabited. "Tenzo tells me you were dead for a while. You have any memory of how that happened?"

"What!?" Anko shouted just a bit too loud, completely uncaring of the way the man only a few feet from her winced and cleaned out his ear with his pinky. "What the hell do you mean I was dead!?"

"I mean your heart stopped, Anko." Her eyes widened as her frazzled brain finally managed to put two and two together and recognize the man in front of her. "Your student performed… I won't say a miracle, but she performed an extremely high-leveled medical Jutsu with, from what I've been told, no experience at all. She brought you back from the dead."

Anko contemplated that for a moment, finding herself growing oddly dizzy as a question popped into her mind.

"Where's Sakura?"

"She's recovering." Shikaku answered her. "She severely overused her chakra reserves. Hell, Tenzo's pretty sure she was given a direct booster injection, and even still, that was only barely enough to keep her stable."

"Is she alright!?" Anko tried once more to push herself up, but an odd feeling took over her body, and she realized with some duress that Shikaku had put her under the shadow possession.

"Just… chill for half a second. I'm aware I worded that poorly, but I need you to stop overreacting to everything I say."

Anko clicked her tongue but pushed past the control to nod at the man. He acquiesced a moment later, pulling the shadows away from her and freeing her body.

"Yes, she's alright." Shikaku breathed out a sigh. "I don't think she's going to be waking up any time soon, but she's alright."

Anko nodded, at the very least accepting that.

"So… what're we doing about Danzo?"

"That's the real question of the hour. The problem, of course, is that we don't really have a good option."

One of Anko's eyebrows rose, a silent question asked to the man before her.

"Basically, Danzo's already starting to put up his guard." Shikaku explained. "It wasn't so bad when the six of you were breaking out of Root, because he'd only mobilized two squads, and most of the members went after Tenzo and the other three. The problem, really, is that he knows we're coming now."

Anko realized what the man was getting at just then.

"You're saying that we can't wait, right?"

"Exactly." Shikaku nodded, sighing exhaustively as he lightly massaged his face with one hand. "As nice as they would be to have, waiting for Jiraiya and Tsunade to show up simply isn't an option, not when Danzo is likely calling out for any and every one of his agents to return to home-base. If we're being realistic, it's likely that only a third of Root's actual battle strength is present inside the tunnels right now."

"You're saying that Tsunade and Jiraiya are strong, but they're not worth two-thirds of the enemies forces, basically?"

"You catch on fairly quick. Yeah, if we allow them to bolster their forces, then it won't matter how strong the Sannin are. Especially if he calls in reinforcements from Orochimaru as well, which we know by now he's not above doing." Shikaku looked her in the eye, his expression tense. "We'd basically have to pull of this assault today, with nothing but what we've got on hand right now."

"Neither side is at full strength though." Anko argued simply for the sake of giving a second opinion to the strategist before her. "That includes us."

"Of course, but we're still stronger than them as things are right now." Shikaku outlined. "We have Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma, not to mention Guy, Zabuza, and the Ino-Shika-Cho, not to toot my own horn or anything. Not like that's everyone, either, but we've got a strong enough assault force that if we attack now, before Danzo can fortify his defenses, we should be able to blow right past him."

Anko nodded, seeing the logic there, even if all she really wanted to do was lay down and sleep for a few days.

A few minutes later, after Shikaku left, announcing he'd need to plan the attack as soon as possible, a small voice sounded out from outside the tent that sounded oddly familiar.

"No." Anko said simply, hoping beyond all hope she was wrong. "I swear if she's actually up after all that…"

"Her tents right over there." A confused voice called out from outside. "But, are you sure you're in any condition to be moving around, Ms.-"

The tent wall just in front of her was pulled away, and standing in the makeshift entryway, somehow awake despite what they'd gone through perhaps only a few hours ago, was Sakura Haruno, panting heavily, and looking a lot like she _shouldn't _be up and moving.

"Sakura, what the hell are you-"

She couldn't quite finish before she was tackled into a bone-shattering hug. Quite literally. She was fairly sure a few of her already rather damaged bones just decided they'd had enough of her shit.

"S-Sakura?"

"I was so worried…" The girl muttered quietly into her chest. "You didn't wake up… even when your heart started beating again, you didn't wake up, and I… I just…"

Despite the fact that she wanted to tell the girl off for getting out of bed and coming to see her… she just couldn't. She wrapped her own arms around the girl, content, at least, that she wouldn't be letting her do anything too stupid if she were right in front of her.

"It's ok." Anko assured the girl. "I'm right here. Not going anywhere."

Sakura didn't say anything, though she didn't cry either, which really proved just how exhausted the girl must've been, given that she was, normally, a bit of a crybaby.

_Probably shouldn't tell her I think that. _Anko thought to herself.

"Oi!" Shikaku's voice called from outside the tent, pushing his way inside, and completely ignoring the nice little moment the two of them were having to yell at them. "What the hell are you doing up, kid!?"

Sakura turned back towards him, a look of guilt upon her face that had her laughing nervously.

"Well, I was pretty exhausted, but I don't know, for some reason, I just, like, couldn't sleep or something?"

Shikaku seemed to think about that for a moment, before, with a sigh, he turned to Anko, eyes narrowed as if he already knew what she'd done.

"Anko." He spoke simply. "You said you gave her a food pill earlier."

"Well, yeah." She replied confusedly. "I mean, she was running low on energy, I just wanted to give her a bit of a pick me up-"

"Anko, were the food-pills you gave her rationed out for a twelve-year old's system?"

Her eyes widened minutely as she remembered back to their time in the Root compound. She'd been on edge, not necessarily concerned with thinking about the dosage of the pill she'd given the girl.

"Uh…" She droned on awkwardly. "P-Probably not?"

Shikaku ran both of his hands down his face, letting out a worldly sigh that seemed to encapsulate the man's entire lifetime inside of it.

"Welp, Sakura, right?"

"Uh, yes sir?"

"The food-pill Anko gave you was for a twenty-five to thirty-year-old ninja. Even Anko's a year too young to be taking them."

"Oi! I need the kick!"

"Ignoring that comment." Shikaku continued. "Basically, Ms. Sakura, your body is currently running on overdrive. Your chakra has already semi-replenished itself, despite you completely depleting it just a few hours ago, and your wounds probably don't hurt at all, if I'm right in guessing."

"Uh… yeah, that seems about right." Sakura responded. "W-what does that mean, sir?"

"Gods, with that much energy coursing through you, I'm shocked you slept even slept for as long as you did…" The man let out another titanic sigh. "Well, basically, it means that you're going to be very, very awake for the next day or two." Shikaku gave a tired smile. "And then you'll probably sleep for a good three or four. In the hospital. If you're lucky, they won't have to completely flush out your stomach."

Sakura's eyes went wide, before she turned to look at Anko with a small glare.

"Eheh… Sorry?"

"And to think, this is the thanks I get for saving your life." Sakura spoke melodramatically. "To think I'd be betrayed by my lover, at a time like this…"

"I'm sorry, what!?" Shikaku turned to her, eyes hard.

"Inside joke, complicated to explain," Anko tried to diffuse the situation, ignoring the shit-eating grin Sakura shot her as the suspicious Nara closed in on her. "Please don't read into it."

/-/

Orochimaru hissed as his deadened arms blazed with pain. It was an anguish that he still couldn't quite grow accustomed to, even after a few weeks of dealing with it.

Not for the first time that day, he cursed Hiruzen's name, pounding his rotting fist against the tile of the shower before him. It only made them bleed more, but he truly didn't care.

They had more important things to worry about.

He turned off the shower, dried his body off as best he could, and dressed himself. Once he exited the bathroom, he was immediately greeted by Kabuto, who bowed before him, as he should, and then got right to business.

"Jiraiya made contact with Tsunade." He opened. "We don't know exactly what he wanted, but we're fairly sure it's related to Danzo in some way."

"Oh?" Orochimaru was curious. "Why do you think that?"

"Because the man sent you a message."

Orochimaru's brow rose, and he took the letter from Kabuto with as strong a grip as his dying flesh could manage.

He read through the message with some intrigue. It was an offer to obtain some rather interesting materials. Not just the three children he'd used for the Chuunin Exams, who were truly worthless, but also the girl he'd accidentally marked with the Cursed Seal of Heaven.

_Hmph, what a fool. He thinks I'd offer him assistance for something as paltry as-_

His eyes widened, and he instantly zeroed in on a tiny, almost insignificant part of the message, just a few words tacked on at the end.

_"…Especially with her development of the Wood Style."_

"Oh?" Orochimaru let out without even meaning to, cackling under his breath as he let his head fall back, laughing almost manically as he let the note fall to the floor below him.

"Lord Orochimaru?" Kabuto questioned, unsure of what could cause such an outburst from him. "What did the note say?"

He wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand, uncaring of the way it spread a bloody mucus across his face.

Truly, it seemed good things did happen to bad people.

"Don't concern yourself, Kabuto." He answered the boy, walking forward and past him as he stepped back into the main hallway of their temporary encampment. "I need to draw up a plan, Danzo's information has proven… most interesting indeed."

"If I may, sir, just what kind of plan is it?"

Orochimaru's smile was that of a starving predator, not just presented with a meal, but with an entire banquet laid out for him, just ripe for the taking.

"I think I've figured out a way…"

"To kill two birds with one stone."

**End Chapter 39**

* * *

**Ominous things are ominous.**

**So, Sakura's shown off some of what the Wood Style's going to be doing for her! And she finally gets to pay Anko back for taking such good care of her.**

**Honestly seems like a win-win scenario, minus the trauma.**

**I know this was an entire chapter without Naruto and Sasuke, but I hope you'll forgive me. Or let me know that not only will you not forgive me, but you're cursing my first born in a review. I always appreciate them!**

**Anyways, next time, Anko has to explain her forbidden love for Sakura to the girl's father, Shikaku, and ask for her hand in- Wait, shit, wrong script again.**

**See you all next week!**


	40. Chapter 40

**At the end of the popular 1978 Musical "Grease", the main stars Danny and Sandy fly away in a car into the clouds. Why does this event take place, especially when it's so out of left field? ****This is because the entire movie is actually set in Purgatory, and every character seen in the film is actually a tortured soul trying to earn passage into the afterlife. In this essay I will-**

**Er. Wait. Right. Naruto.  
**

* * *

**Chapter 40: The Drunk and the Hemophobe**

* * *

"Hey, Naruto?"

"Sup?"

"I've got an idea."

Naruto tilted his head at that, silently asking the boy the question without having to say it.

"I was thinking… your problem with the Rasengan is that you're having trouble controlling it, right?"

Naruto nodded, sighing as he rubbed the back of his head.

"It's annoying, but yeah."

"It's giving you trouble with just your two hands."

He nodded once more, silently wondering where this was going.

"Make some Shadow Clones and get them to help."

Naruto turned back to look at the boy, accidentally dropping his focus on the Rasengan building up in his hand. It exploded inside his palms, knocking him flat on his ass and making him wince as Sasuke snickered quietly, trying to disguise the motion as a cough.

_Huh…_ Naruto thought silently. _That could work._

"Well, worth a shot at least."

He stood back up and drew his hands together in the Shadow Clone's trademark sign, spawning another just before him that held it's hands out. Naruto put his own hands in the same spot, and began to spin his chakra between them. He focused on control, whereas the clone beside him focused on containing the sphere's destructive force, keeping it in a small ball that could be devastatingly powerful.

It broke apart a second later, causing both he and the clone to go flying backwards, sending both of them onto the harsh dirt below. Naruto could only groan as he heard the telltale sound of a clone dissipating.

And also the telltale sound of Sasuke giggling at his mistake.

"Well, that's that, I guess." Naruto spoke disappointedly. "And stop laughing at me! This was your dumb idea!"

"Why not just try again with another clone?" Sasuke asked, coughing once more into his fist to dispel the last of his mirth. "If you're still struggling with control, just try adding another one to help out."

His eyes widened.

"Y'know, that could work."

"Yes, it could." Sasuke reiterated.

Naruto repeated the earlier ritual, before adding in another clone, and trying once more to contain the palm-sized hurricane's strength.

Something about having three people working on the ball of chakra made things far easier to deal with. It no longer felt like the churning mass had a will of it's own. No, now, despite everything, it felt like it was he who was in control of the Rasengan's might.

_Clearly it can't be this easy. _Naruto thought skeptically. _There's gotta be something that'll prevent this from working…_

Even still, he dissipated his clones, and ran towards a nearby tree. Having already formed the Rasengan, he'd already done the hard part of making it, but that didn't mean maintaining the sphere was easy. He could feel it trying to tear away at his palm, trying to free itself from containment, once more, seemingly, gaining a mind with which it struggled.

He made it to the tree before it could break in any way, and shoved his creation into the bark.

The wood let out a horrid sound as the Rasengan cut into it, splintering bark and chippings all around as a clean, almost beautiful hole was carved into the tree. As he passed through it completely, and his hand came out the other side, he finally allowed the Rasengan to evaporate into the air, a bit dumbfounded.

Naruto's face contorted in several odd ways. At first, disbelief that such a technique could allow him to get past his limitations. Then, there was a complete and utter disappointment in his own self for not thinking of that earlier. And finally, the smallest, tiniest amount of gratitude towards the boy for bringing such a thing to his attention.

"Huh." Was about all that came out of his mouth, however.

Sasuke's smirk was semi-self-satisfied. He lightly tapped Naruto on the shoulder as he walked over to him, offering his fist out.

"You're welcome." The boy spoke with a quiet laugh.

Naruto groaned, but bumped the boy's fist with his own, smiling despite himself. A moment later, his eyes widened again, and he turned towards the town in the distance with a mischievous grin.

"Heeeey…" Naruto spoke under his breath. "I do believe I've fulfilled little miss slug's bet!" He looked back towards Sasuke, eyes gleaming. "What say we go rub it in her face and get that necklace?"

Sasuke sighed, but he did still walk behind the boy as they set off back towards the town.

"Maybe don't take the necklace." Sasuke advised him, looking down a bit awkwardly as they walked side by side. "I know you earned it and everything, but that girl, Shizune, seemed to be really concerned about it, I don't think we should-"

"If she wants to offer it to me, then I'll take it!" Naruto argued. "If she doesn't want me to, then… then I guess I won't, but still, she'll definitely owe us the Hokage thing anyways, so she'll just have to do that even more now!"

"That…" Sasuke seemed extremely confused. "Y'know what, sure. I'll pretend that sentence made sense and agree with you."

Naruto could only glare.

When they arrived back in their tiny hotel room, Naruto and Sasuke were surprised to find they weren't alone.

And for once, there being someone else present in their room when there wasn't supposed to be **_didn't _**mean they were going to have to fight someone to the death. Naruto was actually shocked.

"Ah, you're back." Tsunade's retainer bowed deeply, which Naruto felt was about several thousand times too much for them. "My apologies for entering your room unannounced. There was… something I needed to go over with the two of you."

"No, no, that's fine." Sasuke absolved the woman. "What was it you wanted to discuss with us?"

"Well…" Shizune looked at Naruto, and the boy couldn't help but tilt his head to the side somewhat, even if he had a pretty good idea about why she was here. "I wanted to tell you about that necklace Lady Tsunade owns. It's… it's important, to say the least."

Naruto sighed, already feeling his chances of obtaining the really cool necklace worth several mountains going down the drain, but he nodded to the woman anyways.

"We'll hear it."

/-/

When Shizune had finished, Naruto massaged his chin with one hand, as deep in thought as the Jinchuuriki could be.

"Thank you for being so understanding." Shizune smiled at the both of them, letting out a breath of relief as she finished her story. "I know she made that bet with you, but… well, I think she would deeply regret losing that necklace, even with all that's happened."

"Yes, I agree." Sasuke spoke, looking back towards Naruto. "A family heirloom of that much importance isn't something to go around giving out to some kid that she was too stubborn to give any credit to."

"I'm glad you agree." Shizune laughed slightly. "I'll try and talk with Lady Tsunade later today, and see if she can't get you some other kind of reward, she did make a bet, after all-"

"Nah." Naruto spoke up, smirking as he looked back towards Shizune. "I think I'll take that necklace after all."

Both Sasuke and Shizune looked at him with wide eyes, before the latter seemed to grow worried, and the former seemed rather annoyed.

"Oi, Naruto." His best friend spoke up, eyes narrow as he approached him. "Didn't you just hear, she tried to give that necklace-"

"To her brother and boyfriend, yeah, I heard." Naruto nodded sagely, eyes closed, before he turned and looked back up at both of them, a huge smile on his face. "That's why I've gotta' be the one to take that off her hands! I won't let her keep that burden on her!"

"Huh?"

"I'm saying that I think that necklace is weighing her down, or something. She's holding onto it because of what it means to her, but really, I think she probably wants to be rid of it as well."

"That's-!" Shizune began angrily, but held herself back, calming down and continuing a second later. "And what makes you so sure?"

"Oh, nothing really." Naruto rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "I'm just sort of guessing."

Shizune shot him a look of awed confusion, as if she couldn't quite comprehend how anyone could be like him. Sasuke, on the other hand, groaned into his hand, probably attempting to disassociate to the point where he could pretend he didn't know him.

"That's…" Shizune actually giggled a second later, despite everything. "That's very interesting, Naruto."

"Interesting is a word for it, I guess." Sasuke muttered quietly. "And if you're wrong?"

"Then I just give the necklace back, duh?"

Sasuke opened his mouth, trying to find some way of arguing against him. He shut it without any complaint, simply nodding.

"Sure, why not."

Naruto looked towards Shizune, trying to get the woman's approval for his plan. He had been expecting to see some doubt in her eyes, but instead, he was greeted by a small, sad smile on the woman's face, as if she were reminiscing in memories that she would've rather forgotten.

"You're just like them." She spoke simply. "Straightforward to a fault, yet undeniably kind." She sighed peacefully a moment later, before she walked up to him and ruffled his hair lightly. "Alright, I'll let Tsunade know you've learned to use the Rasengan. We'll see what she has to say about your reward."

Naruto nodded with a sunny smile, turning back to Sasuke and shooting the boy a thumbs up. Sasuke, for his credit, didn't look away, instead merely sighing and shooting one back himself.

"Oh, by the way, did Lord Jiraiya tell the two of you if he was going out with Tsunade later today?" Shizune spoke up suddenly. "She certainly didn't tell me anything about it, but, well, she's not back at our hotel."

Naruto looked to Sasuke, raising an eyebrow, and receiving a shrug in return.

"We haven't heard anything. Sorry."

"Ah, no worries, no worries." The woman walked to the back of the room, waving to the both of them as she opened the door. "Thank you, you two. Have a good day."

As the door shut, and the two of them were once again left alone with their thoughts, Naruto couldn't help but voice his mind on one thing.

"Does she feel… **_too _**nice to you?"

"No, but I get what you mean."

/-/

It was around four in the morning that Sasuke began to grow suspicious.

Naruto had, as he always did, said that everything would probably be fine around twelve o'clock, and gone to sleep before Sasuke had had a chance to reprimand him. He did wake him up a few times, but even when he was technically awake, it was clear to the Uchiha that his friend was still asleep, at least in spirit.

And so, he'd let the boy rest, resolving to stay awake on his own rather than constantly fight with the idiot. He sat on the outermost bed in the room, quietly watching the candle that sat on the center desk burn silently.

_Jiraiya's late. _Sasuke confirmed to himself, looking towards the clock on the back wall. _He's usually back by 1 at the latest._

There was an uncomfortable feeling of dread in his stomach, pooling near the bottom and weighing down his actions. His intuition seemed to scream that something wasn't right.

Which was weirdly annoying, given that his intuition was right a lot of the time.

He walked over to the second bed, lightly shaking Naruto's arm in an effort to wake the boy.

"Naruto, get up." He spoke seriously. "We might have a real situation."

The boy opened his eyes slowly, shooting him an annoyed glare. He didn't complain anymore than that, however, instead sitting up and yawning, before once more dawning his orange coat and pants.

"Alright, fine. What's up?"

"It's four."

"Yes, trust me," Naruto muttered under his breath. "I know."

"Jiraiya's not back."

The boy's eyes widened minutely, and he sat up a bit more on the bed, now truly taking this seriously.

"Do you think this is related to what Shizune was talking about earlier?"

"Well, I'm certainly not saying it's not connected." Sasuke let out with a sigh. "It seems likely, at the very least. Let's take her advice on this. She said that she thought they would go out drinking, so let's first check some of the bars around the block, see if he passed out drunk or something."

Naruto's eyes narrowed.

"If that guy made me wake up at four in the morning because he was drunk…"

Sasuke smiled.

"There'll be hell to pay?"

"Oh hell is putting it lightly."

They traveled outside at a fast pace, though still moving slow enough that they could fully analyze the streets around them as they went.

Sasuke was surprised to find how active the roads were, however. He knew, of course, that a city known for it's gambling, for that was the reason Tsunade had come here, would have a bit of a nightlife. He was still surprised at just how large the crowds this tiny border town could draw in truly were.

People walked all around, drunkenly shouting obscenities at one another, playing games with cards and dice as they swindled and haggled one another. It was an odd scene to look at for Sasuke, given that he was, technically, still a child.

_I really hope Naruto's not like them when he grows up. _Sasuke thought with narrowed eyes. _I mean… a Hokage who acted like that… no one would accept someone like that._

_…Wait they're about to get Tsunade._

Before he could think too hard about that particular morsel of info, he caught sight of a familiar figure, slumped on the floor beside an open bar. He gestured towards him while getting Naruto's attention, and the two of them dashed over to the passed out form of Jiraiya.

Sasuke immediately reached for the man's neck, but it proved to be needless when the man loudly snored a second later.

"Really…" Naruto murmured angrily under his breath. "He actually just passed out drunk!?"

"It does seem like that." Sasuke admitted, feeling a bead of sweat flow down the side of his face. "Now before you do anything rash-"

Naruto brought a black marker out of his coat, and, with a devilish grin, brought his hand forth towards the man's face.

"You realize this is incredibly immature, right?"

Naruto glanced up at him, his right eyebrow rising ever higher.

"Do you want me to stop?"

"Well I never said that, did I?"

/-/

By the time they made it back to the hotel room, both he and Naruto were entirely spent. As it turned out, even with two people, carrying an unconscious giant who easily weighed two hundred pounds was pretty damn hard.

"I hate him." Naruto growled out as he practically threw the man to the floor, panting heavily as he walked back over to his bed. "I now no longer feel mercy. Just a mustache and monocle weren't enough." The boy drew his marker back out, uncapping it and smiling a bit too wide, looking almost creepy. "He will pay for this with his dignity."

"You say that like he has any."

Naruto nodded as he went to work, and Sasuke couldn't help but want to hit the hay himself. He smiled slightly at the sound of the squeaking marker on the older sage's skin, but otherwise found himself thinking, annoyingly enough.

_Sure, it's possible Jiraiya just got himself drunk under the table by Tsunade. _Sasuke pondered. _But… it's also possible that something more insidious is going on. He's never messed up like that before, is it too much of a stretch to think he wouldn't now?_

As he was pondering this and that, Naruto suddenly let out a tiny yelp, and Sasuke nearly panicked, throwing off his covers and checking on his friend, before he sighed in relief, instead sitting back down.

"Kid…" Jiraiya muttered groggily. "I want you to know that later, when the situation isn't quite as dire?" The man got into Naruto's face. "You will pay for what you've done."

Naruto simply nodded.

"Right, so we've got a bit of a situation." The Sannin spoke up, doing his best to sit himself up, but slipping a second later, nearly collapsing on the floor if not for Naruto's intervention. "Heh, thanks kid. Don't think this means I've forgotten your sin."

Naruto's smile was shaky at best.

"Ok, so… abridging certain things for the sake of time… There's a chance that Tsunade's made a deal with Orochimaru, and is now on her way to heal the man's arms and make him a threat to every nation on the continent once more."

Sasuke blinked once, then again, feeling as if he must've missed some bridging section in this conversation that got them here.

"I thought Tsunade was a more… rational or… good person than that?"

"She is." Jiraiya sighed out. "She really is kid, I don't… there's not a lot that bastard could offer that would make someone like her do something like this, but… well, I've got my ideas. As for us, I think first things first is to go to her hotel room. There's a chance she's still preparing and hasn't left yet."

"Wait…" Naruto spoke quickly. "When would we be doing that!?"

"Uhm…" Jiraiya looked at the boy oddly. "Now?"

"But… but I haven't really gotten much sleep, so-"

"Right, sorry. Didn't realize the fate of the country was worth less than your sleep schedule." Jiraiya spoke condescendingly. "My mistake there, you go ahead and take a nap."

Naruto glared at the man, but rose from his spot on the floor and walked towards the door.

"Fine. Let's go."

Sasuke smirked.

"You do realize I've gotten no sleep, correct?"

Naruto sighed.

"Please don't turn this into a "I've slept less than you." competition." Naruto muttered. "You've never needed much sleep at all to function."

"I think it's that I'm much better at reserving my energy during the day, unlike a certain hyperactive oddball I know."

"Ugh, you're annoying as all hell."

"I think the word you were looking for there was "Correct."."

"Agh! Shut up!"

"If you two are done…" Jiraiya spoke up from behind the two of them, his massive shadow looming over them. "Then we've got things to do."

"By the way, Sensei…" Sasuke felt like bringing up. "You were passed out earlier, but… I had the feeling that wasn't entirely your doing. Are you sure you're alright?"

Jiraiya rubbed his chin, seemingly contemplating how much he wanted to tell the two of them.

"Well, I'm not going to drop dead or anything, if that's what you're worried about."

_Worst case scenario averted. _Sasuke smiled, relieved. _Still…_

"What's actually wrong, then?"

"Nothing major. Tsunade managed to slip something into my drink when I wasn't expecting it. I should've been being more vigilant, but, well…" The man paused for a second, a flash of pain crossing his visage as he grunted slightly. "I just didn't suspect she'd do something like that. She's just not…"

Sasuke himself had a pretty decent idea of what that felt like, to be betrayed, but he held his tongue. No need to drop the mood of the conversation when Itachi wasn't at all relevant.

_Though… I do wonder if I'll get the chance to meet him again soon. _Sasuke wondered, idly cracking his right hand as his fingers splayed out slightly, subconsciously taking the shape they did when he activated Chidori. _If I know what he can do going in, then maybe I can actually kill him next time._

"Anyways, the drug is making it a bit hard for me to move, for the first part," Jiraiya's words knocked him out of his headspace, forcing him to focus on the then and there. "It's also hurting my chakra usage, makes it… real difficult to focus."

"Are you good to walk?" Naruto asked, trying to hide his concern for the man.

"Eh, I'm good-ish." Jiraiya actually smirked. "Glad to know you're worried about me."

"I'm not worried about you!" Naruto shouted, grinding his teeth together for a moment, before, with a little laugh, it became a wide smile. "By the way, your mustache looks amazing."

Jiraiya scowled at the boy, rubbing his upper lip with a small amount of water, and looking even more pissed off when he realized the writing had been done with a permanent marker.

"You will pay for this." Jiraiya told the twelve-year old before him. "I'll make sure of it."

/-/

Naruto watched silently as Jiraiya knocked once, then a second time on Tsunade and Shizune's room. It wasn't a particularly nice hotel, but Naruto had gathered, through his brief experiences with the female Sannin, that she wasn't exactly loaded with cash.

Upon getting no response after waiting for perhaps half a minute, Jiraiya brought out a small tool from his bag. It was a simple thing, and something Naruto and Sasuke had both dealt with numerous times during their pranking years.

It was a lockpick.

"I'm a bit rusty at this…" Jiraiya admitted with a small smirk. "Haven't encountered a locked door I wasn't allowed to simply blow up in… Gods, maybe a decade."

"I'm actually pretty good at that." Sasuke spoke up. "I can use the Sharingan to see inside the lock as well."

"Huh." Jiraiya sounded surprised. "Alright, sure, you're up."

Sasuke took the tools out of the man's hands, bringing them to the lock and examining them with his newly red eyes. They seemed to observe every single piece of the metal before him, and then, after he'd taken his time to make sure he caught everything, he finally stuck them inside the opening.

It wasn't fast work, lockpicking never really was. He liked to consider himself fairly proficient at the technique, but even he took an average of one to two minutes to pick a lock. After about half that, Sasuke came up victorious, giving a tiny sound of affirmation as he pushed the door open, revealing the lit interior of Tsunade's room.

And the fallen form of her retainer.

"Shizune!" Naruto swore under his breath as he charged into the room, immediately reaching down and checking the woman's pulse. He breathed a sigh of relief a moment later. "She's knocked out, but definitely still got a heartbeat."

"She was breathing when we opened the door." Jiraiya let out with a small snicker. "But jeez, to care that much, you guys must've bonded."

"Not really…" Naruto murmured under his breath, though he couldn't deny the white-hot worry that still festered inside his stomach. "She was just really nice to me and Sasuke… I definitely didn't want to see her get hurt, I guess."

"Y'know, your feelings aren't something you have to hide." Sasuke spoke up as he kneeled beside him. "I was concerned for her the moment I spotted her as well, although, with the Sharingan's added vision, I could see the rising and falling of her chest, so I knew she was fine. That's the only reason I, too, didn't rush in here, ready to defend her."

Naruto could admire that about the boy before him. As a child, when they'd first met, Sasuke had been almost entirely closed off, a veritable ball of edge that didn't even try to make friends, let alone express his feelings.

Nowadays, though, the boy was unafraid to say that he had friends, and he called Naruto his best friend. He was unafraid to say how he felt a lot of the time, and that made getting along with him even easier than it used to be. On the contrary, he couldn't help but find expressing his own feelings a bit difficult.

But when it came to people like him, people like Gaara, and Haku, and Sasuke…

There was an odd sort of connection there. A connection that let him get past his worries and speak from the heart.

When it came to people like Shizune, people he didn't really know… He found it a bit harder to be honest when it came to them. Well, more than that, he found it was a bit harder to talk to people who weren't used to his personality.

He'd be the first to admit he was a bit rambunctious, but that didn't mean, at least, in his opinion, that he couldn't also be a cool person. Some people, a lot of them older, seemed to think the two things were mutually exclusive.

He growled under his breath at the thought of the adults in the leaf village, but said nothing as he turned back to Jiraiya, waiting to hear what they'd be told to do.

"A moment." Jiraiya pulled something out of his coat, an odd sort of powder that he ran underneath Shizune's nose. "Let's hope that works."

Whatever it was, it seemed to. Shizune roused from her sleep ever so slightly, moment by moment, fidgeting once or twice, until her eyes finally opened, and she shot up, a hand outstretched towards the door.

"Lady Tsunade, wait-!" She cut off as she realized who was there, and more importantly, who wasn't. "Y-you guys…"

"Yo." Jiraiya spoke calmly, before nearly falling backwards as his legs seemed to collapse out from under him. "Whoa… don't know if that drug is only just now hitting me, or if I'm getting a bit too old to be doing this, but either way… probably not a great sign."

"Did something happen to you, Master Jiraiya?" Shizune asked, already bringing some odd form of green light into her hands. "If there's anything I can-"

"Nah, nothing for you, I'm afraid." Jiraiya lightly slapped his stomach. "Problem's all internal, I'm afraid."

"Did you ingest something? Or was it perhaps excess drink that-"

"Ingested something. Little Ms. Slug drugged me last night."

Shizune's eyes widened once, and then then grew to comical proportions as she suddenly stood ramrod straight, eyes scanning the entire room as she looked for her Master.

"Lady Tsunade, she-!" The woman cut herself off, slamming her fist into the wall beside her. "She's made a deal with Orochimaru."

Naruto and Sasuke both stepped forward, disbelief the only real thing in their gazes. He himself had believed in Tsunade, despite the woman's less than stellar first impression. Everything Jiraiya and Tsunade had told him had led him to believe she was an ally of the Leaf Village, someone they could trust.

For her to betray them like this…

"In that case, my suspicions were correct." Jiraiya sighed, long and painful. "Shizune, if you have any idea where she is, then I urge you-"

"She might've gone back to where we met them before!" The woman spoke just a bit louder than she had been up until then, panic setting into her tone in a way that had Naruto on edge. "If we hurry, we might be able to catch up before she can do anything irrecoverable."

Jiraiya nodded, but he winced the next second, falling to his knees once more, and needing to be supported by Shizune in order to stand.

"Man…" The man let out as he gasped slightly. "Your Master does not skimp on the poison's, let me tell you."

Shizune could only nod awkwardly.

/-/

They hit the edge of the town within the next twenty minutes, although that was almost double how long it would've normally taken, given that they were hauling Jiraiya along the entire way, as the man sputtered out curses towards Tsunade with every passing breath.

"I oughta' poison her damned drink next time…" The man growled out as his facial expressions contorted slightly with pain. "See how she likes it."

"Uhm… Sure, Lord Jiraiya, sir."

"Damned woman… 'chase after her for 3 damned decades, and this is how she repays me!?" Jiraiya pointed to himself at that, as if trying to emphasize his figure. "I mean, I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I'm kind of a big deal."

"You definitely are, Lord Jiraiya." Shizune's voice didn't even sound convincing to Naruto and Sasuke, so the fact that it somehow fooled the Sannin didn't exactly lend much credibility to his claim of being a so-called "big deal". "I'm sure Lady Tsunade sees that."

"She has to!"

"How long do you think he's going to go on like that?" Sasuke asked him curiously. "Because I'm learning an awful lot about the Three Sannin that I didn't really want to, and it's sort of ruining the image I'd built up of them in my head."

"Honestly?." Naruto answered the boy. "I wouldn't be surprised if he's still doing that while we fight."

"…Y'know what?" Sasuke turned towards him. "Neither would I."

What seemed to be an earthquake shook the ground below them, and Naruto had to actively brace himself to avoid being toppled over by the shaking ground. He glanced at Sasuke, who shot him back the exact same look of confusion.

"That must've been Lady Tsunade!" Shizune shouted, suddenly picking up the pace as she hauled Jiraiya along on her back. "We have to hurry! She's in danger!"

They both nodded, while Jiraiya began talking about how he'd always thought Orochimaru tried too hard during their team exercises, and how it was apparently the Snake Sannin's fault that he always looked so bad.

They rounded a corner and were suddenly met with a decimated road. It looked like it, and only it, had been caught up in a natural disaster. The walls had been broken in numerous places, and there was a massive fissure in the ground below them, the same as the one Tsunade had used to disarm both he and Sasuke during their little duel a few nights back.

"They must've taken the fight outside the city!" Shizune turned to the both of them. "Please, I can't be very fast while carrying him, but the two of you-"

"Way ahead of you, Sis!" Naruto shouted, nodding towards Sasuke as they vaulted the wall before them and ran into the grassy field beyond them. "Try not to take too long though!"

They ran for a while, barely able to see signs of a battle off in the distance. From what Naruto could see, it seemed that somehow some sound ninja and Tsunade were an even match for one another, despite the fact that the latter was supposedly a legendary ninja.

_Oh, wait. _Naruto thought as he watched the woman's fist connect with the guy's stomach, and send him flying backwards. _Looks like she's winning._

They made it into the battle just in time to watch the sound ninja cut into his own hand with a knife and hold it up to Tsunade. The woman physically recoiled, stepping back as the man walked towards her, wielding his bloodied hand like a torch against darkness.

Sasuke charged in first, signaling for Naruto to hold the rear. He did just that, watching as his friend activated his Sharingan and spun into action, dodging the Sound ninja's opening strike and upcutting him in the jaw, sending him flying backwards. Naruto took a defensive stance in front of Tsunade, who even now was still shaking, gripping her arms in an attempt to still them.

"Heh…" The sound ninja spoke up, taking a step forward, flipping his kunai on his finger so that it's point faced backwards. "You're not bad, Sasuke Uchiha."

"Neither are you… Kabuto Yakushi."

Naruto's eyes widened as he finally made the connection. He'd vaguely recognized the man, but finally having the name thrown out, he could remember the weird and kind of creepy dude who'd shown off his card collection back during the Chuunin Exams.

A singular question ached at the tip of his tongue, so much so that he couldn't help but ask it.

"Hey, if you were working with Orochimaru this whole time, why did that Dosu guy totally wreck your glasses?"

He'd sort of expected the guy to laugh haughtily and explain his plan, or something, but Kabuto seemed to actually get a bit upset about his question.

"I let him wreck my glasses to give myself an even better cover, obviously!" He yelled out, before trying to recover from his little outburst with a laugh. "I mean, you never once suspected me for-"

"Well, I mean, you were suspicious the entire time I was fighting you during the Second Round." Sasuke brought up, actually raising his hand as if he felt a bit bad about interjecting. "Just… just saying."

Kabuto opened his mouth to speak, probably to yell at them that it had all been a part of some master plan, but he was cut off by a hand on his shoulder. Orochimaru cut an intimidating figure, even if his other arm swung around beside him like a pendulum, clearly barely functioning.

His raw presence, however, was enough to inspire some degree of fear.

"Sasuke, and… Naruto, was it?" His voice was raspy, though it gave no indication of weakness at all. "It's good to see you both again. Especially you, Sasuke. To think you'd deliver yourself to me… How kind of you."

Sasuke shivered slightly, though it seemed more out of disgust than fear. He brought a kunai out of his bag, and up in front of him, taking a battle stance.

"I heard from some of my agents that you were able to escape Itachi's grasp. I must say, I'm even more impressed with you than I was before." Orochimaru's tongue fell out of his mouth, coming up to lick his lips in a manner that had even Naruto retching. "Your eyes… ah, the way they shine-"

"That's enough out of you, you old pedophile!"

Shizune landed beside her master, immediately speaking soothing words to the woman as she rubbed her back, and a moment later, Jiraiya stood between Naruto and Sasuke, smirking slightly. Despite the fact that his legs shook, he gave the impression of an impregnable wall.

"Oh, Jiraiya." The Snake Sannin sounded less than pleased with the new arrival. "How grand to see you."

"Heh, same to you, asshole."

Kabuto stepped to stand in front of Naruto and Sasuke, eyes narrowed as he brought his kunai towards them.

"As I was saying, the glasses he broke were actually fakes, my real pair-"

"Are you… are you actually still going on about that?" Naruto asked the man, a tad bit concerned. "I really was just joking."

Kabuto opened his mouth, presumably to shout some obscenity, but then he paused, closing his mouth, sighing, and looking back up to them with a determined expression.

"Never mind."

"Good." Sasuke said, completely deadpan. "Glad we all got that out of our systems."

"Y'know what?" The Oto ninja spoke under his breath. "I may have been ordered not to kill either of you," He smirked in an overconfident way. "But I will enjoy cutting you both down to size."

"Oo, a vague threat." Naruto pantomimed fear. "My only weakness!"

"Like, **_really _**enjoy it."

**End Chapter 40**

* * *

**Heyo.**

**Not a ton to say this chapter. It's a bridge chapter, which means all the important stuff happens next week.**

**Though I've always been curious about that scene with Kabuto's glasses. We know from future interactions that Kabuto's glasses were given to him by his Foster Mother, so I always thought they were sort of important to him. Him just kind of... letting the sound trio destroy them always struck me as odd.**

**...Ah who am I kidding, we all know Kishimoto was writing half of the stuff as he went along, he probably thought up Kabuto's mom a chapter before he wrote the dude's backstory.**

**I get that feeling, Kishi, I get that feeling.**

**See you all next week!**


	41. Chapter 41

**Without further ado, into the breach.**

* * *

**Chapter 41: Oddly Human Reactions**

* * *

Kabuto had, apparently, been holding back more than Sasuke had thought during the Chuunin Exams.

He watched as Naruto's guard was broken by Kabuto's fist, sending the boy flying away, before the two boy's assailant ducked underneath Sasuke's own counterattack and landed a blow straight into his sternum, knocking him backwards onto his back, and forcing him to roll to the side immediately, lest he have the man's foot stomp on his rib cage.

He'd already had his ribs broken by Orochimaru; he felt no real urge to experience that particular anguish again.

He flipped out of his roll, landing a bit wrong in a way that almost cost him the match, narrowly managing to make a Chidori flow into his hand in order to wade off Kabuto's attack. Their opponent had no choice but to step back, but that still meant he'd used one of the few Chidori's he could create per day.

_We need to be smart about this. _Sasuke reasoned to himself. _We can't just play his game this whole time and expect to come out on top in the end._

Naruto seemed to realize the same thing, nodding to him over Kabuto's shoulder. Sasuke held off on motioning back, not wanting their opponent to catch on, though he'd have been surprised if Kabuto truly wasn't expecting them to try and mix it up. Clearly, what they were doing wasn't working.

Out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke examined the state of the other battlefield. At the moment, the battle between Jiraiya and Orochimaru was still small scale. The former had used his hair as a spiny sort of armor, wrapping it around his body to prevent the latter from biting him with his extending neck, which threatened to place a seal on Jiraiya's body that would, likely, leave him paralyzed for some time.

Shizune had managed to calm Tsunade down somewhat, but it seemed like the woman was still, at least partially, shaking. She gripped her retainer's body like a lifeline, and it seemed that if the two were separated, the woman would lose whatever sense of calm she'd gained almost immediately.

A movement from Kabuto brought his attention back to the fight at hand, and he charged forward as the Sound ninja darted for Naruto, trying to take the boy out while he was inattentive. He might not technically be allowed to kill Naruto, but there was a much larger chance that Sasuke could be kidnapped by Orochimaru if his best friend was incapacitated in some way.

And quite frankly, getting captured by Orochimaru was just about the last thing he had in mind, what with the man's creepy gestures and pedophilic nature. Sasuke shivered just thinking about him.

This time, luckily, Naruto managed to guard against Kabuto's opening assault, forcing the man's chakra scalpel downwards, and using the opening he received to summon about a dozen shadow clones, which proceeded to vault over Naruto's back and jump at their assailant. Kabuto, to his credit, didn't even react, simply dispersing a good five or six with senbon from his left hand, and then ducking underneath Sasuke's strike on him from behind.

_I'm getting super tired of fighting people above my level. _Sasuke thought with a grimace as he barely blocked Kabuto's fist on his arms, being sent flying once again. _The Chuunin Exams were nice. Why can't all our missions be like that?_

He landed a way's away, though this time, he was allowed a moment to breathe, as their opponent still had to deal with Naruto's numerous clones assaulting him. He took the time to look back towards Tsunade, who had now risen with the help of Shizune, and was walking towards the both of them.

She was leaning heavily on her retainer, but there was a small bit of fire in her gaze that let Sasuke know that whatever had happened here to start this fight, the woman was clearly rather angry about it. She must've informed Shizune as well, for the woman looked much the same in terms of her expression.

"You kids…" The Slug Princess' voice was quiet and shaky. "Why did you come here?"

"Well, mostly cause Jiraiya and Shizune told us to." Sasuke admitted, watching as the previously mentioned retainer avoided eye-contact, looking off at Naruto and Kabuto's duel. "But also because we wanted to help you, I guess, and prevent you from healing Orochimaru's arms."

Tsunade actually chuckled, though it was far from a mirthful thing. If anything, it seemed like she was mocking them.

"And what difference would a pair of hatchlings make at a time like this…" She muttered quietly, pushing off of Shizune's body and standing, a bit precariously, on her own two feet. "Leave this battle to the adults, alright kid?"

"Lady Tsunade, please!" Shizune stepped forward, placing a hand on the woman's shoulder. "You're in no condition to be fighting someone who knows how to abuse your weakness! You've only just recovered, if he does it again-"

"I won't falter a second time!" Tsunade spoke with a growl, and Sasuke noticed idly that her hands were balled into tight fists, her knuckles white. "I'll stop him if he tries again!"

"But-"

"Enough, Shizune!" The woman turned back towards her retainer with fire in her eyes. "I won't hear any more of your interjections!"

The younger of the two said nothing, stepping backwards. Even still, she communicated her disappointment without meaning to, her eyes darting towards the floor as her lips shook. For her part, Tsunade was affected, even if she tried to pretend she wasn't. Her own hands shook, and she turned back towards Kabuto not with any real pride, but with a certain shame lurking behind her eyes.

Naruto had been doing an awfully good job of holding Kabuto up, keeping the sound ninja busy with clone after clone with his veritable battery of chakra. It couldn't go on forever, though, and just as Naruto was about to lose his footing in the battle, Tsunade charged in.

He'd never really seen the woman fight. He'd seen the aftermath, and he'd seen her play around with the two of them, but her actively trying to kill someone was an entirely different thing than either of those.

Her punches were brutal, swung at speeds that, in a vacuum, would've made them threatening. They were even more so when they occasionally impacted against the ground, or a stray tree, and the object they hit was destroyed in a matter of moments, usually reduced to a pulpy version of what it'd been previously.

Kabuto, to his credit, seemed to realize that taking just one of those punches very likely meant death, and so he did his absolute upmost to avoid them, flipping backwards and out of the Sannin's effective range over and over until the woman grew flustered, and until sweat pooled on her brow, evidence of her exhaustion. It probably didn't help that she'd been reduced to a shaking mess at the sight of the man's blood not five minutes prior, it was obvious her movements were still lagging behind somewhat.

Shizune stood a way's behind them, smartly not getting in Tsunade's way, lest they risk friendly fire with a rather high cost of failure, but her face was almost ashen in it's complexion, and it seemed that her teeth almost drew blood as she bit down on her bottom lip, worry overcoming her.

Sasuke himself made it over to Naruto, who was panting from holding Kabuto off for a good minute. It wasn't in any way the boy's fault for being unable to resist Kabuto's assault, given their level's of power, but from the way Naruto gritted his teeth together, it was clear he had only one person to blame.

"You alright?" He asked the Jinchuuriki automatically. "If you need to take a breather-"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Naruto shot him an incredibly fake overconfident smirk. "Thanks for worrying, though."

"No problem. Still, though, I don't think I want to get between those two…" Sasuke looked off into the distance, towards the other Sannin. "Or those two."

At that exact moment, having moved away somewhat over the course of their fight, Jiraiya and Orochimaru sparred almost casually. It seemed neither was a stranger to hand to hand combat, especially Orochimaru, who, despite having lost the use of his arms, seemed to outduel the drugged up Jiraiya's slower attacks.

It wasn't exactly impressive, but at the same time, when it came to reacting, he was fairly sure them stepping into that particular duel would've resulted in their immediate capture, or worse.

"…Yeah same here." Naruto responded after a while. "Problem is, I don't see what we do here…"

Sasuke nodded sympathetically, having come to the same conclusion just a moment ago. He looked towards Shizune, and decided that if they couldn't interject in the fights, they could at least be ready to do so at a moment's notice.

_After all, _Sasuke pondered silently. _All Kabuto has to do is cut his hand again, and Tsunade's– _

"Lady Tsunade!" Shizune suddenly screamed out, charging forward as the woman was knocked backwards, her entire body shaking as her face turned a pale white in color. When her retainer reached the Slug Princess, she grasped hold of the woman, rocking her gently back and forth. "Hold on, I've got you!

"Heh, to turn tail and run at the sight of a little blood…" Kabuto spoke snobbishly, stepping forward with a scalpel drawn in his right hand, and his left hand held out, dripping slightly from a small cut on the boy's palm. "And you call yourself a doctor."

_Speak of the devil…_

Sasuke charged forward, Naruto just on his heels as they took Kabuto from two sides. The man was fast, easily able to block Sasuke's opening rounds of attacks, but it was what came next that surprised both he and the young Uchiha.

Naruto had held off for just a moment, taking the time to bring into being two shadow clones. He'd begun to create a swirling vortex in the palm of his right hand, and, just before Kabuto could truly react to it, he'd brought the ability forward.

It had been a glancing blow, Kabuto just barely dodging the full brunt of the blast, but even then, the way the man stumbled slightly upon landing spoke of the raw force behind the Rasengan's might. He turned back towards Tsunade and Shizune, a giant smile that seemed to beg, no, **_demand _**praise.

"Well, old lady!?" Naruto shouted towards her, his left fist help up before him as the Rasengan dissipated in his other hand. "How about that!?"

Funnily enough, it seemed like Tsunade didn't have much of a response. Her mouth was hanging open very slightly, like she'd been caught so unawares that she couldn't even remember to shut her jaw.

"You actually…"

Beside her, Shizune smiled subtly, squeezing the woman's hand in a show of support, and perhaps to remind the woman that she was there as well.

"Haha…" Tsunade actually laughed, covering her mouth with her right hand as the shaking seemed to relax ever so slightly. "I suppose I owe you a necklace, then?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, probably thinking about the conversation that he, Sasuke, and Shizune had had only a few hours ago.

"Well… if it's important to you, then you don't have to give it to me." Naruto spoke, not looking the woman in the eye. Sasuke himself couldn't help but smile. "I was just thinking that-"

"No." Tsunade smiled, an honest sort of thing that seemed to cut through Naruto's doubt. "I think… Let's make it through this, kid, and I'll hand it over."

Naruto's smile was like the sun, lighting up the battlefield as he turned back towards Kabuto, who'd only just recovered from tasting a hint of the Rasengan. His eyes were narrowed, taking them seriously for the first time.

"Let's play this quickly." Naruto told him, forming two more shadow clones at his sides as he brought another Rasengan into his hands. "This time, let me-"

The orb of chakra exploded in the boy's hand, knocking him into the dirt below and banishing the two shadow clones beside him.

There was a moment of abject silence as Naruto picked himself up off the earth below. He brushed his hair with his hand, getting the small bit of dirt that had mixed in out of there. Sasuke felt like he should've coughed or something, to help at least maybe divert some of the attention on his friend away.

He didn't.

Naruto stood awkwardly, trying to ignore the way Kabuto smirked viciously, clearly relishing the boy's embarrassment more than a little.

"So, uh…" Naruto started. "As it turns out, I might've worn myself out practicing all last night."

"Oh," Kabuto spoke, actually giggling to himself. "So that's your excuse?"

"Shut up, you!"

"I don't know if I will, I'm having a pretty decent time over here, myself."

"…And any tension that was there is now gone." Sasuke sighed. "Why are you all like this?"

/-/

Sakura had never felt more awake in her entire life, which she felt probably shouldn't have been the case, given that she'd basically gone through her entire supply of chakra multiple times in the last day or two.

Her hands shook as she reached for the glass of water beside her, nearly spilling the entirety of the vessels contents before it reached her lips. She appreciated the feeling of the water moving through her, revitalizing her.

Because as awake as she felt, it felt like her heart was beating about four times as fast as it should've been, and her head ached to a degree she'd never experienced before. Anko was stood off to one side of her, looking oddly guilty as she offered to hold the glass for her while she drank, an offer that Sakura gladly accepted.

"Thanks, Sensei." She practically gasped out as she stopped drinking, a small amount of water dribbling down her chin. "I'm weirdly parched too, not really sure why..."

"Eheh," Anko rubbed the back of her neck again as she set the glass down. "That's a, uh… side effect of the Food Pills. They sort of kind of dry the mouth out?"

"Right, well, at least I'm not dying." Sakura muttered quietly, before looking back towards Anko with narrowed eyes. "I'm not dying, right?"

"You're not dying." Anko confirmed. "Though they're almost certainly going to have to flush out your stomach."

"Wait, but that Shikaku guy said-"

"He was being nice." Anko interjected. "Oddly nice, really. But uh… sorry, it's not exactly the most fun thing to go through."

"Good. Great, even." She sighed dramatically, before a small ray of hope shone through her. "Though, if you hadn't have given me the pill, I probably wouldn't have had enough chakra to save your life with my… well, whatever I used, so there's that."

Anko actually smiled at that, walking towards her with arms outstretched. Sakura raised an eyebrow as the woman wrapped them around her

"You're awfully huggy today."

"Yeah, well, I died a couple of hours ago. Forgive me for being slightly sentimental."

"I suppose you're forgiven." Sakura responded as she pulled out of the woman's grip, looking just for a moment at the entrance to their little tent. "I actually never asked, even though this should've probably been the first thing out of my mouth, but uh… where are we?"

"Just outside the Leaf Village." Anko spoke, walking towards the edge of the tent and gesturing for Sakura to follow. "Root is located near the back of the village, kind of out of the way, it's… complicated to explain."

Sakura followed the woman out of the tent, and though she'd been outside her own before when she went around looking for Anko, she'd only barely been paying attention to her surroundings. Now, she was able to see the Hokage's faces off in the distance, though far farther than she'd ever seen them from before.

"This is…"

"One of the forests around the Leaf." Anko confirmed. "Specifically, this is one of the many training grounds reserved for high-level Anbu operations. It's also the secret home of Danzo's Root." She gestured around with her hands, giving a vague spin as if to show off the relative lameness of the location. "Welcome, I guess."

"You don't sound thrilled." Sakura smirked slightly, trying to ignore the way standing-still felt so wrong to her energy-ridden body. "Have you been here before?"

"Oh yeah." Anko admitted with a small, mirthless laugh. "A whoooole lot."

That actually surprised Sakura, her eyes slightly widening as she tilted her head to the side.

"Just for missions?"

"That, and occasionally, I was called in to work alongside some of Danzo's best during advanced ops." The woman sighed, rubbing the back of her neck in as clear a sign of uncomfortableness as the woman would show. "That bastard… Danzo knew that I was trained by Orochimaru, and… well, with what we know about him nowadays, it makes a hell of a lot more sense why that was such a big deal to him. He trusted my training, if that makes sense. Knew I'd do… In his eyes, the 'right thing'."

Sakura felt a small twinge of pity for her teacher, though she buried it upon seeing Anko's expression go from one of sad reminiscence to a raw sort of anger.

"That absolute…" Anko gritted her teeth together, stepping forward and cracking her knuckles. "Anyways, I'm going to beat the complete shit out of him. That's my current life goal for putting you through what he did."

"Well, I must say I'm flattered." Sakura giggled. "Don't think this means I'll return your affections, however."

"Would you please drop that joke." Anko sighed tiredly. "I tried to have a nice moment and you had to go and ruin it. Not to mention every time you make that joke around someone else, somehow its **_me _**who gets in trouble!"

"Firstly, of course you get in trouble," Sakura said, smirking. "You're like double my age, it's not considered kosher for you to be hitting on me."

Anko's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Oi."

"Oh, and secondly!" Sakura pointed at the woman, flashing a victorious smile. "I saved your life, which means I get to keep jokes you don't like!"

Anko's eyes widened, as if silently thinking that those terms and conditions were blasphemous, before sighing loudly, putting her head in her hands.

"If I'd known that was the condition, then I would've just died…"

"Hey! Don't joke about that!"

Anko's eyebrows rose.

"Oh, so you're allowed to joke about it, but I'm not?"

"I saved your life." Sakura repeated once more. "I get to keep jokes you don't like."

"Is this going to be like my mom saying, "I gave birth to you, do what I say!"?" Anko asked with a deadpan expression. "Because if it is I refuse outright."

"What does that mean, you refuse!?"

They walked past a few tents as they continued to argue, exploring the camp sort of on accident as they made it to the center. There, they found a slightly larger, more important looking tent, that, if Sakura had to guess, she would've called as belonging to the leader of this operation, or at least playing host to them.

"It means I just won't." Anko clarified rather unhelpfully. "Obviously."

Sakura tried to work that particular problem out in her head, but blanked, ending up simply sighing and approaching the central tent, deciding to figure out just who was in charge here.

"Ah, wait, Sakura!"

She stopped just before she could push her way in, Anko's hand on her shoulder having just barely grabbed onto her.

"There's a strategy meeting going on right now." The woman explained. "It's a huge deal cause they're having to do a whole lot last minute, what with the decision to attack Danzo immediately. Basically, we're planning now, getting the plan in about an hour, and assaulting Root right after that."

Sakura's eyes widened.

"So, we're doing all of this today!?"

"Yep." She looked towards the tent, before seemingly realizing something. "Now c'mon, we don't want to interrupt."

"You're oddly upstanding at the moment."

"I'm just trying to not get blamed for your conduct." Anko glared at her. "Because quite frankly, I've gotten yelled at enough today."

Sakura laughed.

"Sounds about right."

"Oi!"

They walked back towards their tent, weaving through rows and rows of identical structures, each having been erected what could've been no more than four hours prior, given that that's how long Sakura had supposedly been out, and these certainly hadn't been there when Tenzo had first gotten the sound trio out of Root.

She had a feeling Danzo's men would've been a bit more gung-ho about catching them had they been.

_Speaking of…_

"Hey, Anko?" She broke the relative silence they'd been walking back in. "Where're Tenzo and the Sound trio?"

"They're being interrogated."

Sakura's eyes went wide, and Anko immediately began waving her hands in order to calm her down.

"Sorry! Sorry! Wrong word!" Anko shouted at her absolute panic. "Should've said interviewed or… or something of that nature! No torture, they're just being asked a few questions about the defenses and what some of the lower corridors looked like. They're also working on patching the sound trio back up."

Sakura let out a heavy breath, nearly falling over as she forced herself to relax. Having a metric ton of energy coursing through her certainly didn't help with that.

"I wish I could be exhausted right now." Sakura said with exasperation. "Wait, what did you mean 'patching them up'?"

"Oh, right. Basically, Danzo was actually still interrogating those three behind our backs." Anko spoke up, frowning as she continued. "Apparently, he told those three that if they spoke up about it to either of us, or if we ever found out, then he'd kill them. They hid their injuries the whole time, and never spoke of it. Hell, from what I've heard, they didn't even scream while being tortured… thought that if we heard them, we'd come running."

Sakura felt a white, horrid ball of rage fill her entire being, all aimed towards the man named Danzo who'd terrorized her and her loved ones for the past week or two.

"I hate him." She spoke simply. "I actually hate him."

"Yeah, you and me both, kid."

She felt the curse mark on her neck flare up suddenly, as if reacting to her anger, but she ignored it, using her typical method of sealing it away to calm it's attempts to escape and dominate her mind.

"You too, huh?"

Sakura looked up at her teacher with a curious expression, noticing that the woman was rubbing the back of her neck, the same spot where the curse mark usually resided.

"Your… mark is hurting as well?" She asked the woman. "I thought-"

"Yeah." Anko cut her off. "It's been almost entirely inactive since Orochimaru stopped caring about me… but ever since I woke up earlier, it's been aching something fierce."

"Why?"

"If I had to guess? I'd say it's related to how I quite literally died. I'd say my curse mark was… maybe deleting itself, somehow."

Sakura's confusion seemingly showed on her face, for Anko continued.

"Basically, my theory is that when a curse mark user dies, Orochimaru's programmed the seal to delete itself so nobody can study it, basically." The woman reasoned. "It's a hell of a lot easier to study a corpse than a living human, after all. That's basically how the Second Hokage got to be so famous. He invented countless Jutsu from examining corpses, reviving the dead, cloning himself to do multiple things at the same time… you name it, basically."

Sakura had never really heard all that much of the Second Hokage. If she had to guess, the man lived in the shadow of his brother even after both had long since departed this world.

"Anyways, I think my curse mark, in order to delete itself, had to briefly reactivate itself, if that makes sense." Anko seemed to be a bit perplexed about her own explanation, for she stopped for a moment, gathered her thoughts, and then continued. "Right, yeah. So basically, half-way through deleting itself, suddenly I was alive again because you revived me, and then it got… I'll say confused. Basically, it's instructions were unclear, and now it's stuck being on again."

Sakura nodded, sort of kind of understanding the words her teacher had just uttered, and also sort of not.

_Is this what being Naruto is like? _She wondered absently.

"So…" She spoke up awkwardly. "What are you going to do with it?"

"At the moment? Probably not a ton." The woman admitted. "I wasn't really expecting my dick of a teacher's last gift to suddenly reactivate itself when I woke up today, so I think I'll consider my options for a bit before I make any choices."

Sakura nodded, agreeing with the woman's caution.

"Then again, there's the chance I could accidentally activate it myself."

"Hm?"

"Like you did the first time you used it." Anko reminded her. "I don't want to suddenly turn into some rage zombie or something."

"Rage zombie?" Sakura asked with a small laugh. "I'm going to try and not take offense to that."

"Y'know what, I probably should've worded that better."

"Yes." Sakura giggled quietly. "Yes, you should've."

They finally made it back to their tent, having had to walk through quite a few rows, and more than once getting lost while trying to locate the structure.

"Seriously, why do they all look exactly the same!?" Sakura asked, more than a little frustrated. "I mean, that took like fifteen minutes, for what should've taken maybe two."

"If you want an actual answer, it's that buying in bulk is way cheaper than buying singular." Anko smiled. "And also, because the cheapest tent that the higher-ups could purchase that would still accommodate missions was this one. Thusly, they bought the cheapest tent in bulk, saved a ton of money, and went along their merry way."

"And who's this 'they'?"

"Eh, y'know what?" Anko muttered quietly, a tiny bend of her lip indicating her mirth. "Let's just blame Danzo and move on with our lives."

"Y'know what?" Sakura parroted, trying to hold back her giggling. "That sounds pretty good."

/-/

Things had gotten both better and worse for Naruto.

For one, they were winning their little duel, and it seemed like Tsunade had gotten over her crippling fear of blood, or, at least, she was no longer hiding away at the sight of it. He saw how her body still shook, and her crushing fists weakened, but Kabuto could no longer rely entirely upon the cut on his hand to make the woman cower.

Around half-way through their battle, however, Orochimaru had called his second-in-command back to him, and he and the Sannin had summoned their massive snake, apparently named Manda, to the battlefield.

Naruto had to admit that he didn't much like the guy, given that he shouted pretty much exclusively evil things over and over, like how he was going to need double the 'sacrifices' this time to make up for the last time, and how he would 'eat them all!'.

Though, Honestly, Naruto was pretty sure he was just getting tired of dealing with giant snakes.

_First that one almost ate me in the Forest of Death, _Naruto thought annoyedly. _Then this snake gets summoned in the middle of the Chuunin Exams and nearly eats a whole stadium of people, and then me and Gamaken have to beat the crap out of some massive hydra that broke down the gates…_

_Just… can't the next guy we fight summon like… birds or something?_

_Is that so much to ask!?_

"FOCUS, NARUTO!"

Sasuke's words were barely enough for him to dodge Kabuto's next attack, a chakra enhanced scalpel that, according to the boy's own words, would've almost instantly severed the muscles in his chest.

He was pretty sure his heart was a muscle, too, and also in his chest, and he was pretty sure it being 'severed' was a not so good thing.

_Then again, pretty sure the Nine-Tails would just heal me through it… _He tried to stay positive. _…And then probably try and take over my body again… _

_OK, so maybe don't get hit in the heart, got it._

Sasuke counterattacked something fierce, charging into Kabuto's range and just barely missing with a Chidori that would've easily downed the Sound ninja. Kabuto struck back a moment later, just barely missing Sasuke's arm with one of his scalpels and cutting the surface of Sasuke's skin with his chakra alone.

"He's no amateur." Sasuke panted. "Even with the Sharingan active, his movements are still far faster than anyone I've dealt with. If anything, I'd say they're pretty close to Kakashi's or Zabuza's."

"He's that good!?" Naruto looked back towards the glasses-wearing ninja, who pushed up on the item adorning his face, making them glint in the sunlight as he smiled cockily. "Gods if he's a bit of an asshole though."

"Oh yeah, definitely an asshole." Sasuke agreed. "Still, we've gotta beat him while those three duke it out."

Naruto nodded, briefly turning back towards the Sannin's fight, where the three stood atop their beasts and, from what Naruto could hear from this distance, argued about who had been the coolest back at the academy.

_I really hope we're not like that when we grow up._

After Kabuto had helped Orochimaru with his summon, he'd hopped back down and immediately reengaged the two of them. They'd had Tsunade and Shizune for back up for a bit, but Jiraiya had called them in for help, since his ability to summon was apparently rather limited with the drug still coursing through him.

The two had done just that, but Naruto had just done the old man a favor and summoned one of the frogs himself, bringing out the Sage's usual partner, Gamabunta.

Well, he'd tried. It had taken him two attempts, because the first guy he'd summoned had been Gamaken, who was Naruto's personal favorite, given the Toad's far more respectful personality, but apparently that hadn't been good enough for Jiraiya, who'd nagged and nagged until he finally caved in and summoned again, nearly exhausting his chakra, but successfully bringing out Gamabunta.

Unfortunately, Gamaken had taken that the wrong way, and, assuming he wasn't needed, had unsummoned himself.

Which was really annoying, given that Naruto really could've used a giant toad to help him beat Kabuto.

And it wasn't like the toad unsummoning himself had given Naruto any of his chakra back either, so he'd simply been stuck chakraless, toadless, and Sanninless against a Kakashi-level opponent.

And, well, Sasuke was there too, but honestly, he wasn't going to win this on his own or anything.

"Honestly, though." Kabuto spoke up suddenly, shaking his head and looking a bit mortified. "You'd think they'd be a bit more dignified, they're Sannin, aren't they? Arguing about nothing like that-"

"You were doing the exact same thing not a few minutes ago!" Naruto shouted, pointing at the man with some degree of frustration. "You literally wouldn't stop going on and on about your dumb glasses!"

"That was entirely different!" Kabuto shot back. "My glasses are actually important, whereas this feud between the Sannin is asinine, and-"

"Oh, they're important!?" Naruto shouted, putting his hands on his hips. "And just how are they so 'important'!?"

Kabuto seemed to clam up for some reason there, averting eye contact in a stunningly human way.

"It's none of your concern." The man spoke as he looked back towards them, smirking cockily. "Just trust me that-"

"Just trust you!?" Naruto was actually upset now. "Your stupid glasses aren't important, just admit it and we can all go home!"

"These are my mother's glasses!"

"Well boo-hoo!" Naruto shouted, continuing. "I think they look stupid!"

Naruto panted as he finally stopped his tirade, feeling now a small modicum of guilt worm it's way through him.

"Eh… sorry about that last one, I didn't mean to be rude, I just-"

"Naruto, are you apologizing to Kabuto right now?" Sasuke spoke, eyes narrowed in complete disbelief. "Because if you are, I'm going to have to ask you to stop."

"Well, I mean, I get being enemies, but I didn't want to insult his mom…" Naruto murmured out under his breath. "It just felt like I was taking it a bit too far there."

He looked back up to Kabuto, and saw the boy's mouth was hanging open, completely dumbfounded.

"So, uh… yeah, sorry about that part. I was just upset, and-"

"No, it's uh…" Kabuto seemed to be struggling to think of what to say. "It's fine? I mean, it's not fine, but I get that you…"

Sasuke looked between the two of them with such absolute shock that he didn't even speak. The boy simply sighed, sitting upon the ground with a frown.

"We're actually in the negatives now for tension." The boy muttered annoyedly. "We'd actually need to gain tension just to have none."

"Well I felt bad!" Naruto tried to retort. "I was just-"

"No matter how bad we feel, we don't apologize to people trying to kill us!" Sasuke shouted at him, looking incredibly fed up with him. "Look, just… can we all agree to go back to killing each other?"

"Well why do killing each other and not apologizing have to be mutually exclusive?" Naruto asked, feeling like challenging his friend for some reason. "Maybe I want to defeat my enemies and not feel guilty about doing it!"

"We can do this later, Naruto." Sasuke spoke under his breath. "For now, let's defeat Kabuto, and then go and help Jiraiya and Tsunade."

"Er… right."

He turned back towards their opponent, admittedly feeling a bit off now that they'd had a semi-real conversation. Kabuto, for his part, seemed to be able to put that aside, bringing chakra back into his hands, once more forming his scalpels.

"This feels kind of weird now."

"It's because you had to go and make it personal!" Sasuke shouted at him. "If you'd just listened to me from the get-go-"

"AAAH! I get it, I get it!" Naruto shouted back at the boy's nagging. "Quit pestering, alright!?"

For some reason, Kabuto actually laughed at that, covering his face with one hand as he snickered quietly under his breath. Naruto and Sasuke both stopped to watch, and eventually the man quieted back down, sighing in contentment as he looked back at the two of them.

"Man," Kabuto spoke with a small smile on his face. "It's going to be a real shame when I have to kill both of you."

Naruto and Sasuke both hesitated, stepping back as the man's scalpels grew in size, and he took a few steps forward.

Just as things were about to come to a head, however, a massive shadow was suddenly cast over all three of them.

"SHIT, MOVE!"

Naruto did just that, following Sasuke's advice and jumping backwards as a massive snake crashed down into their path, completely obscuring their vision of their opponent. Manda let out a howl of pain, and it took Naruto a moment to notice that what he'd first though was a horn on the beasts head was actually a titanic knife jutting out of it's jaw, impaling it to the floor beneath.

**"Orochimaru!" **The great beasts voice came out as an enraged hiss. **"I'll kill you for this, you bastard!"**

"Heh!" Another booming voice sounded out, this time, from the mouth of Gamabunta. "You finally got a taste of my blade, and quite literally at that!"

**"I'll devour you all!" **Manda cried, outraged. **"I'll boil you alive! Burn you to death, and destroy your homes and families, my wrath will be-"**

"Yes, yes," The voice of Kabuto Yakushi sounded out, sounding vaguely disinterested. "Thank you for your time, oh great Manda."

**"Wha – You damned brat! Who the hell do you think you-"**

"The person who summoned you." Kabuto replied in a bored manner. "And the person who unsummoned you. Goodbye."

**"Huh!? You-" **The beasts hissing rage was cut off a moment later as white smoke exploded out from him. A second or two later, when it cleared, the snake was gone.

"Well, I suppose that wraps that up." Orochimaru's voice called out, and despite his overconfident tone, the man was rasping as he leaned heavily on Kabuto's body. "Tsunade… Jiraiya… Prepare yourselves."

The man began to sink into the dirt beneath him, never once breaking eye-contact as he disappeared.

"You will see more of me, and quite soon at that."

And then the man was gone.

Though, still, Kabuto persisted.

"I think he forgets I can't do that sometimes." Kabuto spoke with a small sigh. "Well, whatever. Naruto, Sasuke!"

The two looked towards him, watching as his easy smile became a crooked grin.

"The next time we see each other, I won't be playing around."

The man formed a series of complex hand-signs, and then he too disappeared in a puff of white smoke.

"I am sick and tired of that bastard running away." Jiraiya sighed out, falling to the floor as the giant finally let his shaky legs collapse under him. "But just for today, I think it's best we let them go."

"Yes." Shizune spoke, nodding towards the man. "I don't think we're in any position to pursue them, given that most of us are below their level, and the two that aren't are incapacitated."

Naruto let out a sigh, but couldn't help but agree with their diagnosis, looking towards Sasuke and shrugging tiredly.

The boy had only a nod to give back.

Tsunade was the first to break the silence as the remaining combatants all stepped towards one another. She groaned as she reached into her shirt and gripped the necklace hanging around her neck, smiling a bit annoyedly as she handed it over to him.

"There you go, kid." Naruto took it with vigor, smile like the sun as he placed it around his own neck. "Be careful with that, it's-"

"Yeah, Shizune told us."

The retainer in question didn't meet Tsunade's eyes, frightfully laughing as the Slug Princess glared at her.

"Oh, did she?"

"W-well I thought… you know, just in case you didn't want to-"

"Hmm?" Tsunade asked once more, raising an eyebrow. "What was that, Shizune?"

"I'm sorry…" The woman uttered, looking at the floor. "I shouldn't have gone behind your back like that."

"Hmph." The master smiled. "I'm glad we've settled that."

A moment later, Shizune's brow came down, as if she were having a striking realization, and she looked back up towards Tsunade with a certain anger in her eyes.

"Hey, wait!" She called, gripping the woman's shoulder. "And just where do you get off saying I did things behind your back when you actually knocked me out to prevent me from stopping you last night!"

A bead of sweat flowed down the Sannin's face.

"Well, t-that was entirely diff-"

"You went off to fight Orochiamru, one of the strongest ninja on the continent, along with his number two with no backup, no plan, and a crippling fear of blood!" Shizune stepped into the woman's guard, actually upset now. "And you have the _audacity_ to get angry at **_me!?_**"

"Yeah!" Naruto shouted, clapping as he laughed. "You tell her, Bis Sis Shizune!"

"Er… my bad?" Tsunade tried to diffuse the situation casually, rubbing the back of her neck. "Next time I won't-"

Shizune walked away, starting towards the edge of town where they'd first come in from.

"W-wait, Shizune, I-"

"You can start paying me back by agreeing to everyone's offer to be Hokage." Shizune spoke, turning back around and shooting the woman a glare. "It'd certainly be better than you wasting all the money we earn on gambling."

Sasuke walked over towards him, lightly elbowing him to get his attention.

"So… do you think they're…" The boy trailed off, heat coming to his cheeks. "Y'know?"

"Really?" Naruto laughed casually, dismissing the boy with a wave of his hand. "I think they're just friends."

Tsunade's eyes were wide, and her smile was shaky at best as she prostrated herself on the ground.

"I'm sorry…"

"Sorry? What for, Lady Tsunade?"

"…Everything?"

"I want specifics, Lady Tsunade."

"Ergh…"

Sasuke looked towards him again, lazily gesturing towards the scene in front of them with his left hand, as if to say, 'still sure?'.

"Almost…" Naruto spoke up again, feeling more than a little skeptical now. "Almost positive it's platonic."

Tsunade stood up from the dirt, chasing after Shizune at a fairly brisk pace, but she stopped suddenly as her retainer turned back around, rounding on the Sannin and getting in her face with her arms crossed under her breasts.

"N-now Shizune," Tsunade began, taking another step back as she laughed quietly. "Let's not… do anything rash."

"Oh, I won't." Shizune spoke, and Tsunade let out a breath of relief. "Not yet, anyways."

The Sannin's eyes widened.

"You'll just owe me one."

"One… one what?"

"Let's say… a favor" The woman stated with a serene smile, her eyebrows drawn downwards in a cocky manner. "And whenever I feel like cashing that in, you'll do what I ask."

"Positive?" Sasuke spoke up, a small smile adorning his face as his lips pushed upwards. "You're positive?"

"Alright, you win." Naruto muttered begrudgingly as he watched the Slug Princess get chewed out by her partner.

"Frankly, I have no idea."

**End Chapter 41**

* * *

**Heyo.**

**Wow I have actually nothing to say. I got like no sleep which means I'm editing this completely exhausted and really out of it.**

**Instead, I'll just say see you all next week.**


	42. Chapter 42

**I need to stop editing these as soon as I wake up.  
**

**I probably won't, of course...**

**But I should.**

**Anyways without further ado, gosh I'm tired.**

* * *

**Chapter 42: Good News and Bad News**

* * *

Preparations were in order, though the jury was still out on whether or not Zaku was.

He sat silently in the medical tent, having been cleared by the chief doctor for combat. His thoughts, however, still dwelled on his and the rest of his unit's interrogation these past weeks. They'd kept quiet, being brought back in after Sakura and her teacher had been distracted by their training, kept too busy to notice their plight.

_It's not their fault. _Zaku knew, even if it was hard not to want to blame them for the bugs he thought he could still feel crawling under his skin. _I know it's not their fault… but…_

It was hard to separate the pain they'd experienced that day from the girl's oh-so innocent face.

A face that, if he wasn't wrong, got prettier by the–

_Nope. Not going there. _Zaku cut that particular train of thought before his treacherous mind could even start. _That way lies madness._

The door, or, perhaps it was better to say flap, to the tent was pushed open, and Kin walked inside. She shot him an easy smile, though there was certainly some pain hiding behind her eyes.

"Hey." She called, walking over and sitting down on the grass in front of him. "You get cleared to go?"

They'd all initially been held up, the doctors wanting to make sure they were in a good condition before they accepted them on. Dosu had been the first to gain clearance, and for the both of them, the testing had come down to the wire.

"Yeah. You?"

The girl gave a small hum of acknowledgement, leaning back until she was resting upon the dirt beneath her, sighing tiredly as she looked up at the roof above her.

"I'm getting kind of tired of having my ass kicked, Zaku."

He snorted unconsciously, an odd noise that was entirely unlike him. Kin shot him a small smile, but one of her eyebrows was slightly elevated, as if asking him a silent question.

"Oh, and what's so funny about that?"

"N-nothing, nothing." Zaku held his hands in the air, surrendering before things could get complicated. "I get the feeling. Trust me. Just thought it was a bit of an odd way to start a conversation."

"Zaku you may get your ass kicked notably more than me," The girl started. "But I get my ass kicked harder than you do."

"Is… is this a real discussion we're having?" Zaku looked at the girl with a deadpan expression. "Because if it is, there's thing I need to do… outside…"

"Oh, shut up!" The girl yelled at him, but the slight upturn of her mouth indicated her amusement. "I'm trying to make small talk over here and you're suddenly being a piece of shit."

"I'm always a piece of shit." Zaku corrected her, wagging his finger while hiding a smirk on his face. "I'm almost worried that you're only noticing now."

Kin laughed, her body shaking lightly as she stood off the floor, yawning into her hand.

"So uh… whatcha' been up to?"

Zaku exhaled through his nose, mirth coursing through him.

"Not wanting to talk about the raid?"

Kin's eyes widened, before she looked down at the ground, sighing.

"That obvious?"

"Just a little."

The girl lost some of the light in her eyes, standing up and walking over towards the bed Zaku was sat upon, plopping down right next to him and letting her arms fall into her lap, hanging off the bed in a way that made her look even more defeated than before.

"I'm a bit scared, honestly." Kin admitted finally, smiling despite the gloomy mood hanging around the both of them. "I'm just so tired of being thrown from place to place to place, always beat to shit and tossed aside like garbage. First the streets, then Orochimaru, and now Root… I mean, can't the three of us just catch a break for once!?"

Zaku didn't speak, though he did scoot slightly closer to the girl, hoping his presence, at least, would help calm her down slightly. Kin didn't say anything, other than breath out through her teeth as she drew her hands together, trying to still their shaking.

"I always enter these stupid missions thinking… what if this is it, y'know?" Kin turned to him ever so slightly. "Like, what if we all get killed by some trap, or a Jonin catches us and cuts us down before we can so much as scream… or Danzo planted some bomb in our chests that he can blow up at any time, or… Guh!"

The girl ran a hand down her face, trying to shed away some of her fear. It didn't seem to be working, and so Zaku reached his arm outwards, putting the limb around the girl's shoulder and pulling her into him. To anyone else, the gesture might've seemed romantic, or perhaps a bit creepy if taken the wrong way, but he liked to think they both knew it was just a comforting sort of thing.

"I'm scared too." Zaku admitted, smiling at the girl. "But… we've just gotta' believe we'll survive, right?"

Kin's eyes were as wide as dinner plates as she turned towards him, before she let out a small laugh, pushing off of his body and standing up off the bed.

"Gods, you say that like it's the simplest thing in the world."

"Well, I mean, it kind of is-"

His thoughts were interrupted by a small pain on his forehead, one that actually managed to launch his face backwards. He felt an indignant sort of rage fill him as he massaged the injured area, looking back to the girl before him, whose lips curled into her mouth as she tried to hold back her laughter.

"Oi!" Zaku shouted, now feeling more humor than anything. "What was that for!?"

Kin laughed, falling back onto the floor and holding her ribs as she cackled loudly. Zaku felt an odd sense of joy as he watched the girl's laughing face, and decided to try and prolong the bit as much as he could.

"That really hurt you know!"

The girl didn't respond, horribly amused by her own antics as she curled into a ball, shaking as she looked up towards him, eyes glinting with mirth and tears.

"I thought we were having a nice moment there for a second…" The smile on his face was perverting his attempts to act upset, and instead he sounded weirdly confused. "And you had to go and flick me in the forehead!?"

"No more…" The girl barely eked out as she giggled quietly, trying to suppress the laughter. "S-stop!"

Zaku smirked, acquiescing to her request as he stood up, offering his hand out to her to help her up off the floor, laughing as she wiped at her eyes with her hand, she herself giving a small giggle.

"Heh," Kin finally recovered, letting her head fall backwards as the smile on her face persisted. "Thanks. I needed that."

"Didn't really mean to or anything." Zaku spoke as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Just… kinda' did."

"Yes, yes." Kin rolled her eyes. "You could always consider just accepting the sentiment, you know."

Zaku grumbled under his breath, but couldn't really find a way to refute the girls statement. He'd never been the best at taking compliments, though it wasn't like he received them very often. He'd simply always thought that, after what had happened with Reis, he didn't deserve them.

There was a knock on one of the steel beams holding their tent up, which was about the funniest thing Zaku had ever seen, for it meant the person trying to enter was perhaps the most polite person in all the world.

"Come in." He called out, already having a pretty good idea of who it was at the entrance. "It's not locked."

"Yeah, I kind of assumed it wouldn't be." Sakura Haruno joked back at him, rolling her eyes as she spotted Kin, giving the other girl a teasing glare. "Oh, and you're here too, I suppose."

"Indeed." His teammate spoke, walking over to Sakura with her head slightly elevated, as if trying to intimidate the girl before her by looking taller. "Whatcha' doin' here, slut?"

Zaku's eyes widened to comical proportions as he immediately entered damage control mode, finding himself a bit angry at Kin as he took a step towards her, but was stopped as Sakura's smile only grew at the girl's comment.

"Oh, nothing much, skank. Just here to check in on you all, see how you're doing," Sakura eyed the girl before her. "I know how fragile you guys are, after all, so I was worried about how you'd be taking things."

_Ok… either they're about to kill each other…_

A moment later, both Sakura and Kin burst into laughter, reaching their hands out and bumping fists.

_…Or they went and became friends when I wasn't paying attention._

"Seriously though, you guys hanging in there?" Sakura's voice carried some degree of worry now, no longer putting on her earlier act. "I heard about what happened from Anko… I felt terrible about the way Danzo abused you all behind our backs."

Zaku looked towards Kin to get the girl's opinion on the matter, receiving a rather overconfident shrug that he was fairly sure was the girl acting tough in front of her 'friend'.

"It's no big deal." The girl spoke, shooting Sakura another smirk. "We're strong, y'know. You don't have to worry about us. If we dealt with Orochimaru for years, then we can handle someone like Danzo!"

"'Dealt with' Orochimaru is an awfully harsh way to put it, given that he could've killed any of us at any time."

Zaku turned towards the voice who'd just spoken, finding Dosu standing in the middle of the entranceway, having accrued them a few sets of weaponry for the upcoming raid. He tossed Zaku a bag that, when it landed in his hands and shook slightly, he assumed was filled with kunai, shuriken, and a few other tools and trinkets.

"Thanks." He offered to the boy as he stepped inside, giving Sakura an odd look. "What took you so long, by the way? You were gone for like two hours."

"Just some assholes at the armorer's tent. They held our former statuses over our heads for a bit, tried to deny me the weapons without cause, that kind of thing." Dosu sounded bored as he yawned into his hand. "Anyways, when they figured out I wasn't going to be crying for mommy, they finally let me take a few, but, well, long story short, they delayed over and over again."

"They sound like pieces of shit." Kin summarized rather unhelpfully. "Guys you recognized?"

"Nah." Dosu let out with a sigh. "Just some punks who thought they were tough shit, most likely."

"They sound horrible!" Sakura spoke out, sounding far too offended about the matter. "I'll go and speak with them, they have no right to treat you all-"

"And since when were you our spokesperson?" Dosu glared at the girl over his shoulder, still turned towards Kin. "Relax. If I cared about them, I'd have done something about it. I dealt with hundreds of people like them when I lived in the sound village. Plenty of assholes just want to throw their perceived power around."

"That doesn't make it right." Sakura breathed out under her breath.

"Sure, but that also doesn't mean you have to raise an objection to every little thing."

Dosu was, perhaps, the only member of their little band who hadn't warmed up to Sakura. He, much like Zaku, saw the girl as overwhelmingly naïve and innocent, but he also didn't have any attachment to the girl like Zaku and Kin did. Dosu usually chose to avoid social situations as well, and if he ever was social, it was largely isolated to their team, and he especially avoided confrontation like it was the plague, unless it was overwhelmingly necessary.

Dosu was, in essence, someone who kept his nose out of trouble. He called himself a survivor.

And for him, that meant avoiding someone who seemed to be a magnet for danger like Sakura.

Zaku could at the very least understand the boy's position. He'd been a loner on the streets all those years ago before he'd found a group to fall in with, and they'd had a good few months to get to know each other before they stole from the wrong people, and were systematically hunted down one by one, until it had been only him left standing.

And even when he'd been assigned to Kin and Dosu after being drafted by Orochimaru, they'd all largely avoided interaction with one another, aside from routine check-ins and meaningless small talk.

So, he couldn't exactly begrudge the boy for not wanting to associate with the pink-haired kunoichi, but that didn't mean he wanted it to stay like it was, either, because despite his best wishes, and most of his common sense, he still retained his little crush on Sakura.

There was a loud whistling noise that sounded out through the camp, hanging for multiple seconds and catching the attention of everyone in their little tent.

"That's the signal." Dosu spoke casually, gesturing to his two teammates. "Come on, we're a part of the second attack team."

"Oh, you guys too?" Sakura smiled, pointing towards herself with her thumb. "So are me and Anko. From what they said, there's going to be an initial assault team that focuses on disarming any traps they've set up, along with keeping themselves alive, they're being led by…" Sakura suddenly hesitated, apparently caught on something. "Choji's dad… I forgot his name…"

"Choza Akimichi." Dosu supplied to those of them who didn't quite remember the name 'Choji' off the top of their heads. "One of the three pieces of the Ino-Shika-Cho combination, one of the foremost military threats of the leaf village."

"Huh, I didn't realize he was so famous."

"Well, we did a lot of research on key leaf figures when we were planning to-" Zaku cut himself off. "Uh, yeah, he's very famous."

"You do realize I know you guys were going to destroy the village, right?" Sakura smirked at them a bit teasingly. "There's no need to hold back. You helped supply us with information that was vital in holding them off. You don't have to feel ashamed that a few Genin couldn't say no to Orochimaru of all people."

"Meh, we chose to come on the mission." Dosu explained. "It was an opportunity for growth. It wasn't like Orochimaru didn't have other teams who could've fulfilled our role."

Kin smirked at her.

"Yeah princess, you sure you should be socializing with us? I'd think your mother told you about hanging out with the bad crowd."

"Yes, I'm fine, thank you." Sakura sighed, massaging her face with one hand, though Zaku had a feeling the movement was more to hide her grin than anything. "We should probably get going, though."

They all agreed to that, at least, following behind the girl as she made her way out of the tent first, idly chatting with Kin as the two walked side-by-side.

"Are they friends?" Dosu asked Zaku quietly as they continued walking. "Because I didn't think they were last time I checked."

"Heh, yeah, same here." He responded as they pushed into the crowd of ninja before them. "I think something happened while I was out."

"Oh, it might've been… well, it doesn't matter anyways."

"Well now I want to know?"

"Then ask her yourself."

"I guess that's fair."

Choza, the man supposed to be leading the first attack squad, was having one final check in with the operations leader, Shikaku Nara. Even before arriving in the village, The black haired ninja had been one of the few people Orochimaru had taken to briefing them on back in the their main base.

Overwhelmingly cunning and shrewd, he was a man to never be underestimated. They were told to always assume that he had a plan, even in a situation where he realistically couldn't. If they encountered him, they were to disengage any and all contact, and to never try and engage the man in conversation.

Nor, however, should he have been engaged in combat. The foremost living expert on the Nara's shadow weaving Jutsu, he could kill you without you even knowing he was there, and without even having to get his hands dirty.

All he needed was light, and what came out of it.

Zaku was broken out of his memories by Choza's shout, which was used to fire up his own squadron as they charged into an open dirt hole in the ground, one which Tenzo, the man who'd rescued them from Root, had dug into the ground.

Even if they hadn't had a large amount of time to find out where the tunnel lead in the enemy base, it was still a far cry better than charging into the base through the front door, which would've been far more akin to suicide than anything else.

"We'll be giving them five minutes." Shikaku shouted to the second squadron, the one that he, Kin, Dosu, and Sakura and her mentor were apart of. "We're going to follow up quick enough that they won't be surrounded, but also before the enemy could loop around them and set up more traps, while still giving them enough time to remove one's that have already been placed down ahead of us."

Shikaku turned back towards the other man beside him, a tall, blonde man who Zaku also recognized as Inoichi Yamanaka, the leaf's foremost intelligence agent.

"We'll hit them hard with our initial assault, interrogate their frontline with Inoichi's Jutsu, which should nullify their tongue tattoos, and then strike at Danzo's main line of defense with the information we gather. The third team will be entering right behind ours, so play defensively, protecting them as best you can."

The unit gave a general noise of acknowledgement, and Shikaku nodded himself, gazing down at his own shadow, and, if Zaku wasn't mistaken, actually reading the time through nothing but the shadow's movement alone.

"Right, that's four and a half minutes, get into formation and prepare to breach!"

There was no complaining, no second guessing. Zaku marveled briefly at the level of aptitude the unit before him showed. Apparently, it had been comprised largely on the spot, taking the best they could get for a defensive squadron, skills like walls, healing, and crowd control, and mashing them together on short notice.

The fact that they didn't hesitate to trust this Shikaku person…

_Guy must really be something._

"On my mark." Shikaku held his hand up, and by the way he stood off to the side, it was clear he would be holding up the rear of their second squad, or, at the very least, entering after the very first line of troops.

Shikaku's fingers dropped in second intervals, until, at last, there were none remaining, and the man dropped the hand forwards, signaling for the front line, the first group of the second team, to charge forward into Tenzo's tunnel, ready to go to war.

Theirs was the second group, which meant they were in charge of helping both the first group secure an area, and establishing a method for the third group, who'd largely be assisting the intelligence team, to enter in behind them and not be threatened by any of Root's first defensive teams.

Shikaku pointed to their group's leader, an elder Jonin that Zaku didn't know, and the woman signaled for them to follow. Dosu went first, and he held up the rear behind Kin as they charged forward.

Sakura's group was the third, led by Anko, of all people, and they'd hold up the rear of the second assault team, basically just confirming the tunnels as safe, and helping the intelligence team set up.

The tunnel Tenzo had created was far wider than Zaku had first expected. It was easily able to fit two people walking side by side the entire way down, which made it much easier for them to filter into the room below, and immediately notice the signs of battle.

There were already a few casualties, though, notably, none of them were members of their operation. A few ninja wearing masks were strewn here and there, downed with weapons that seemed to strike at vital points.

However, at the mouth of the cave, tied to the wall, was another body, though this one was different.

Mostly in that it was still alive.

And that Zaku actually recognized the boy.

"Sai!?" Sakura called worriedly to the boy as she too entered the compound, walking right up to him and kneeling down beside him. "Sai, are you-"

"Back away." Anko spoke to her simply, acting far more seriously than she normally would given her position. "We don't know what he's capable of, even tied up like that. We'll secure the area and have Inoichi scan his mind, get everything out of him that we can."

Sai didn't move at that, but, then again, Zaku was fairly sure he'd been knocked out.

There was a rumbling as the room seemed to shake, and he assumed that meant the fighting was carrying on below them. He turned towards the general of this little operation, who finally made his way down the stairs, and took stock of the room as the rest of them silently awaited orders.

"Secure the area." Shikaku finally spoke, walking towards the edge of the room, where the doorway that the first assault team had taken was still hanging open. "We'll make sure to get the information that we can out of this one. Once we've confirmed the third group's presence, and the lack thereof of any threats, we'll push in to move the perimeter forward."

A general murmur of acceptance followed the man's quick speech, and they settled into their rolls of keeping watch on the room. Zaku, more than anything, watched the places where dust fell from the ceiling, because even if it was likely just the shaking and rumbling of the floors below them causing the dust to free itself, there was still a piece of him that saw it as overly suspicious.

It wasn't that long before Inoichi's squadron arrived behind them, immediately turning towards Shikaku, and taking stock of the situation. There was a small buzzing out of Shikaku's ear, and Zaku realized that the man was wearing a small ear piece, one that would allow him to communicate with the first assault team.

"Right. Understood." Shikaku spoke into the device, before turning back towards the rest of them. "Choza's cleared a path for us, but he's finally encountering some resistance on the third level. We're going to get as much information out of this one as we can, then move in towards the main rooms with the second assault team. Our role will be capture or assassination of Danzo Shimura. Obviously we'd prefer the first option, but if you see your shot, and you don't think you'll get another… don't hesitate."

Another general sound of agreement, and Inoichi went to work. His team drew symbols on the floor around Sai as some other's bound him in place. The boy didn't squirm or panic outwardly, but even Zaku couldn't miss the way sweat dripped down the side of his face. It seemed that one couldn't quite kill all of their emotions at such a young age.

The next moment, Inoichi put both of his hands on the boy's temples, and Sai's eyes rolled back, as if instantly falling asleep. They were there no more than a minute before Inoichi rose suddenly, turning towards Shikaku with a small smile.

"Eighth sublevel, in a secondary, hidden room." The man brought out a scroll from his trench coat, beginning to scribble on it immediately. "I'll give you a rough map."

"Much appreciated." Shikaku spoke, smirking in an overly confident way. "Alright, boys, you heard the man. We'll be setting off as soon as he manages to jot us down some directions. Clean insertion, don't kill anyone if you don't have to."

Zaku couldn't help but think that rule was a bit odd, but it was actually Dosu who voiced the question, stepping forward with what had used to be his gauntlet hand raised in the air.

"Might I ask why we're avoiding killing, sir? I'm not complaining, just curious."

Shikaku let out a breath that, if you dug hard enough, could've been construed as a laugh.

"Well, simply put, they're leaf ninja, same as us." Shikaku pointed out, sounding like a much better person than he did when he opened his mouth again a second later. "And also, because we can't afford to be wasting any potential manpower after Orochimaru's attack a few weeks back. If we can rehabilitate the hundred's of ninja's inside here, then that's hundred's of ninja's that can pick up the slack of those we lost."

Dosu nodded, stepping back as Inoichi handed the scroll he'd been sketching on over to Shikaku, who, after a brief glance at the object, signaled for the rest of the second attack team to form up.

"Right. We're heading out. Same formation as before, the first group will secure the next room, making sure the first assault team is doing their jobs."

There was a small bit of laughter at the man's joke, but most were hyper serious.

"Sheesh, tough crowd." Shikaku smirked. "After that, the second group will be given the all clear, followed thirty seconds later by the third group. After that, we'll be heading into uncharted territory, which means we'll likely be encountering live combat. Do your best to not be surrounded, because time we have to spend bailing any of you out of trouble is time we aren't spending ending this operation before it can get messy. Any questions?"

There were none.

"Right. First group, on my mark!"

A few moments later, Shikaku thrust his hand down, and the first group charged into the doorway. There were no sounds of combat, nor were there sounds of any traps going off, or anything that would've impeded them in any way.

"Right. Second group, you're up next."

Zaku readied himself, standing beside Dosu and Kin as they prepared to breach.

_Three… two… one…_

The man's hand fell, and the second group charged in.

/-/

Sakura couldn't help but feel like things were going just a bit _too_ well.

From what they'd seen as they charged down the corridors, following in the wake of the first assault team, there had been no Leaf casualties thus far. There were injured, of course, but those who filtered back through the crowds were often healed in a minute or less, and sent straight back to the frontlines to continue their attack.

It all just felt so weirdly… wrong.

"What's the matter, Sakura?" Her mentor voiced up from beside her, finding a moment where she didn't need to be leading their squadron to investigate her student's discomfort. "Something on your mind?"

She voiced her concerns to the woman after a moment, and though Anko didn't laugh, it was clear from the way her eyes twinkled that she found some small bit of mirth in Sakura's statement.

"Worried things are too easy, huh? Yeah, I can see why, with your track record, you'd probably think this is a bit too easy."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you've had pretty much nothing but odd jobs your entire career." Anko clarified, signaling for the squad to stop as a messenger bird flew towards her. "One sec."

Sakura nodded as the woman read the small missive, before, with a nod and a jotted-down message on the parchment, she sent it backwards the way they'd come from, back towards the intelligence squad, and motioned for the squad to halt for the time being.

"What was that about?"

"Message from the first squadron." Anko elucidated. "Just a simple order to stay put for the time being, they've encountered a few more extreme traps, and they want some distance between the rest of the squads before their seal-master starts working on disarming them, on the off chance something goes wrong. There was a few other orders there as well that are a bit more sensitive in nature."

"Why would you use a bird for that?" Sakura asked, thinking the whole thing a bit dumb. "I mean… you're all wearing ear pieces, aren't you?"

"Do you remember when we were back in our room?"

"Yeah, why?"

"What was the thing that ultimately defeated us?" Anko looked smug as she asked the question. "Do you remember?"

Sakura scanned her memories for a brief moment, before coming across the particular memory Anko was referring to.

"Yeah, I remember. It was a recording-" She stopped suddenly. "Oh. I get it now."

"Good, good." Anko spoke as she ruffled her hair. "Anyways, yeah. We're much more likely to catch camera's and the like as we go through, because they, at least, need to have some spot of them that pokes out of the wall to function. Since the audio devices don't, we have basically no chance of spotting them unless we specifically search for them with our techniques, and that takes time we don't always have. Thusly, whenever we're not communicating something that has to reach all teams immediately, we'll send it via messenger hawk, since it's far harder to intercept that kind of communication over a short distance. Stuff like squad adjustments, casualty lists, interrogation results. Stuff that, if the enemy found out about them, could be bad."

Sakura nodded, finally understanding the main plan of the mission's higher-ups. She mentally apologized to Shikaku and the other strategists as she reiterated her question from earlier.

"Oh, right. Sorry." Anko cleared her throat, before continuing from where she'd left off. "Right, so, you've basically dealt with way too much shit in your lives as Genin, like, in just the few months you've been Genin, you dealt with about as many Jonin as I faced until I was halfway to the rank myself."

Sakura's eyes widened at that, but Anko just kept going.

"Not to mention the Jonin you fought were some of the strongest guys of the generation. I mean, one of the Seven swords of the Mist, A freakin' Sannin, and a Junchuuriki!?" This time, Anko did actually laugh. "No offense, Sakura, but you and your team have just about the worst luck you could get. This," She gestured to the room around them, though Sakura took that to mean the general state of the mission they were on. "Is generally how missions go. They're mostly straight-forward and to the point, and you're told up front what you're dealing with."

Sakura nodded, at the very least getting how things should have been.

"But yeah, these encounters with super high ranked ninja every other day?" Anko smirked. "Not a normal thing. Most Genin don't see an enemy Jonin until they're at the very least Chuunin themselves, and very few even survive meeting ninja like you guys have unless they're about as strong as one of your teachers."

"Did you mean you, or Kakashi?"

"Both of us. He may be… like… a bit stronger than me…"

Sakura raised an eyebrow in challenge at that.

"OK, so he's quite a bit stronger than me, but even still, I could get my way out of a fight with someone like that if I had to. Orochimaru taught me to be a slippery bitch when I needed to be." Anko seemed to realize something. "Aaand now you've got me off topic. Damnit Sakura."

"I fail to see how that's my fault, but sure, blame me."

Just then, the bird flew past them, coming back from the back of the formation, and carrying a new note on it's leg that seemed to have replaced the old one. If Sakura were to guess, she'd assume it was a confirmation that all squads had received the earlier memo.

"Anyways," Anko tried to pick back up from where she'd left off. "In a nutshell, you guys have dealt with some crazy shit that isn't at all indicative of what normal ninja missions you should be undertaking are going to entail. Especially a mission led by the Leaf's top squad of ninja, and planned out by one of the smartest strategist's the world's ever seen."

_Well, _Sakura thought, feeling a bit of relief wash over her. _That's certainly nice to know–_

"Though, of course, with your luck, I'm sure we'll be attacked by some super-powered guy wielding the Rinnegan or something within the hour."

She tilted her head to the side.

"Rinnegan?"

"Mythical eye Jutsu." Anko informed her. "A fairytale thing. They say the Sage of the Six paths had them for eyes or something, but honestly, I sort of forgot that story, so don't hold me to that."

"Great, good to know I'm getting information from a reliable source."

"Don't be judgy." Anko muttered under her breath as she looked back towards the mouth of the room, where the small sound of flapping wings echoed into the space. "Ah, finally."

The bird landed once more on Anko's arm, and she took a brief moment to inspect the writing before holding her hand up, signaling for the team to rise.

"Alright. We move out on my mark." Anko shouted, rousing the less ready members, who, perhaps having assumed the missions was already over, had taken to leaning against the walls of the room, some even briefly falling asleep. "I'll breach the hole first, Homer, you're holding up the rear."

"Aye-aye ma'am!" A ninja Sakura had never seen before saluted the woman, turning his back to the rest of them as he took a readying stance.

Anko finally allowed the bird on her arm to leave, though not before signing a small message, presumably her signature, on the paper. The bird followed the exact same routine he'd taken last time, flying back towards the Intelligence squadron waiting just behind for the signal.

"Alright…" Anko gestured towards the door, taking a few steps forward. "Let's go."

Sakura followed behind the woman as she exited the room, signaling for them to follow her down a fairly complex route of winding halls and branching paths.

They reached the first and second teams of the second assault squadron, and Shikaku waved lightly at them as they approached, Anko giving the man a very quick status report, which consisted of the words "Nothing to report" and nothing else.

"Right." Shikaku spoke, then, with a quick breath, he addressed the entire assault team. "Alright, this is where our job begins. So far, we've just been following in the wake of the first assault team, but it's now that we have to use some of that youthful energy we've been keeping around."

A few people laughed again, though just like the man's last joke, most people stayed entirely silent.

"Eh, I'll nail a good one one of these days." The leader cleared his throat. "Right, so while the first assault team went left," He pointed down the hall, where the signs of battle were evident along the walls of the compound. "We'll be going right, and making ourselves a tunnel thanks to Tenzo, who will soon be joining us from the third intelligence team."

At that very moment, the man in question entered the room, bowing quickly to Shikaku as the man gestured for him to join the briefing.

"We will make a quick, calculated strike at the head of this beast, and we will sever it before it can so much as blink. Like I said earlier, we're not here to kill Danzo, we'd much rather gather information from him regarding his involvement with Orochimaru, among other things. Of course, things don't always go exactly how we've planned them, so if you think the only way we're getting Danzo back to the Leaf Village is in a body bag, don't hesitate."

Everyone called back, or at the very least acknowledged the man's order.

"Right, if everyone understands, then we're good to go, Tenzo, go ahead and start on our tunnel."

The man nodded, stepping forward to the spot Shikaku pointed to and beginning to work, carving out huge chunks of the wall with the wood and earth styles, before beginning to descend into the hole he'd created as he pushed more and more dirt and debris out of his way.

"Right, we'll wait for him to make decent progress, then…"

The way Shikaku stopped speaking sent a small chill up Sakura's spine, as if something had suddenly gone awry in a way she couldn't even see. A moment later, the man's shadow grew to perhaps ten times its normal size, stretching outwards and up the wall just behind him, snaking into the roof above him.

There was a brief scurrying sound from the area his shadow had climbed into, and then, without warning, the roof broke underneath the weight of a ninja, who plummeted to the floor, entirely encased in a shadowy binding.

"Y'know," Shikaku spoke up, giving the man an intimidating look as his shadow squeezed the man's body together, already seemingly cracking bone. "I was just thinking we could've used another one to interrogate."

The man struggled helplessly against the bindings, until he'd managed to flip himself over, his face showing towards the group around them. Sakura, to her shock, actually recognized the man as the Genjutsu user she and Anko had fought against no more than half a day ago.

"Isn't he…" Sakura asked Anko, watching as the woman nodded, and then, witnessing her face grow a pale white. "Sensei?"

"Sir!" Anko pushed past her, walking over to where Shikaku was stood with an ashen expression. "This one's a Genjutsu specialist. My student and I fought him sir, if he didn't use any of that here, then…"

For some reason, Shikaku's eyes grew wide as well, and he immediately raised his voice, shouting seriously for the first time.

"I need fifteen into the hole!" He shouted, pointing towards Tenzo's entrypoint. "Everyone else, head back to the intelligence division, let them know what happened, and see if they can't clear the debris!"

Sakura was overwhelmingly confused.

"Wait, wha-"

"NO TIME!" Anko shouted, pulling her by the hand down the hallway, and trying to ignore the way the soldier behind them, the man whom Shikaku still had restrained, laughed maniacally at them all.

"You bastards… won't escape here alive…!" He let out one final laugh as Shikaku squeezed down on him harder than before, crushing his bones to powder as the man let out one final gasp. "Long live… Lord… Danzo…"

"RUN!"

Anko and Sakura barely made it to the hole Tenzo was digging, along with a Shikaku, Dosu, Kin, Zaku, and a few other ninja, along with, strangely enough, a fully grown wolf, before the man's dead body began to glow a faint white. It was only a moment later that Sakura realized what was happening, and her eyes went wide as she hugged onto her teacher…

Just before the man's body exploded.

She decided, about thirty seconds later, when the dust had settled, that she was completely tired of explosions.

"Is everyone alive?" Shikaku's voice called out in the darkness. "If any of you can use a fire jutsu to light this up, it'd be much appreciated."

A moment later, a flame came to light in the middle of the tunnel, coming from the hand of a ninja Sakura didn't know.

"Thanks. Alright, so we're essentially trapped in here for the time being. Tenzo's going to keep cutting that hole, or at least… I assume he is?"

"I am, sir."

"He is indeed." Shikaku confirmed. "And we're going to obey the plan exactly as it was stated before. We'll take this tunnel down to the eighth sublevel. Tenzo, where are you now?"

"Around the fifth." The man called back, though Sakura could only just barely see the silhouette of his body in the faint light. "It's going to be around five minutes before I can get us an exit-point."

"Understood." He looked around the room, seeing the way some of them were quite a bit scared. "Don't panic." The man spoke first, mostly addressing the four Genin he'd ended up stuck with. "We accounted for these kinds of variables when creating this plan. We may have lost a few people in that explosion, but we can't focus on that right now. Assume that everyone's fine until you can afford to worry, got it!?"

The people in the room gave a weak call back, and Shikaku rubbed his goatee absently, thinking hard about their next chain of events.

"Right, so there are two main ways this could go when we get down there."

Sakura nodded, as did the rest of them. Even Dosu, who generally seemed to ignore authority figures, seemed to have gained some respect for the man standing before them, staying completely silent as the man continued.

"The first way, and the best way, is that despite that man's suicide bombing, they haven't actually figured out our plan. We'll get to pop out somewhere, surprise a few guards, and run straight to Danzo."

"The second, and in my opinion far more likely way this will play out, is that that suicide bomber was sent in to separate us, forcing us to comply mostly with how they want this to play out. I always knew Danzo was a piece of trash, but I honestly thought he'd draw the line somewhere. Guess I've learned my lesson not to underestimate him." Shikaku sighed as he kept going. "We should expect them to have traps laid out for us. Tenzo, even you should be careful. Feel around with your branches a bit before you cut into the walls."

"Already ahead of you." Tenzo called back. "I found a few earth mines lying inside them. I've disarmed them all, for the most part, but just in case I miss one, you should all be careful."

Sakura swallowed on nothing, trying to keep herself calm. Anko's hand gripped hers suddenly, and squeezed down on it.

"Don't worry." The woman spoke to her, a smile on her face. "He's just being overly careful. He's done a thousand infiltrations like this in the past. He's no stranger to dealing with defenses like these."

Sakura nodded, trying to focus on that. Everyone here, besides her and the sound trio, were expert ninjas, highly experienced and more than capable of pulling off this job. Just because they'd been forced into what was now likely the main attack group didn't mean they'd be forced to step up to the plate and be as skilled as them.

_They'll protect us. _Sakura reassured herself. _But that doesn't mean I can afford to hold them back, either. _

"I-I…" She shouted suddenly, causing half the people in the tunnel to jump, looking towards her with a mixture of curiosity and annoyance. "I know Healing Jutsu! I-If you get injured, then I can patch you back up."

She decided to leave out the fact that she'd only done it once, and that she wasn't completely sure she could do it again. Still, the way their faces lit up when she said that was worth the potential blow to her pride. She'd find a way to be useful here. She had to.

The people around her smirked, evidently liking the sudden burst of confidence, feigned as it was. A ninja she didn't know, a woman with red markings on her face, slapped her on the back rather hard, in what Sakura was fairly sure was supposed to be an encouraging gesture.

"Almost there." Tenzo spoke. "Thirty seconds, maximum."

"Alright everyone." Shikaku spoke, walking down to where Tenzo was rather quickly making headway into the dirt. "Once he opens a path, we clear the hole. I want Mitarashi and Inuzuka taking point. I'll go in second, then the Genin come third. The rest of you are holding up the rear and helping Tenzo close the tunnel back up."

_Kiba's clan? _Sakura wondered as she looked towards the woman who Shikaku had called Inuzuka, the same woman who'd just whacked her across the spine. She seemed to be around the same age as their leader, perhaps in her late thirties. _Well, I guess it doesn't really matter. Maybe she's Kiba's mom or aunt or something._

Sakura focused as the rest of the group nodded, understanding their role.

"Alright. Prepare to breach…"

He held up his hand as light began to shine from the edge of the wall Tenzo was working on. The man reached his hands back, and then, like a metronome, slammed them back in, sending dirt and debris flying into the room just beyond them.

"BREACH!"

Anko and the unnamed Inuzuka took point, the two women and a dog so large it could've easily been a wolf charging into the room, scanning it and, after reaching the conclusion that there was nothing to be found, signaled for Shikaku to enter.

"Genin, on me."

Sakura followed, along with Dosu, Zaku, and Kin, who walked along with her. They took stock of their surroundings almost immediately, determined not to be a burden.

The room they were in was quite large, almost resembling the training room Sakura had been in just a few days prior. On second examination, Sakura recognized the room as, while not the exact same one she'd trained in, a training room of some kind.

Tenzo walked back over to his tunnel, using an earth Jutsu on both sides of the walls that collapsed the entrance in on itself, effectively sealing them down there.

"Why do that?" Sakura asked Anko, feeling just the tiniest bit claustrophobic. "I mean, couldn't we use that to get back out?"

"We could." Anko agreed. "But at the same time, our opponent could also use it to flank us from behind. Especially since they used that man as a method to seal up some of our options. They wanted us to go this way, that's almost certain. It's in our best interest to hold onto as many advantages as we can get, and that tunnel lost it's usefulness the moment we made it down here."

Sakura nodded her head, understanding that, at least. She tried not to think about the Genjutsu specialist who'd so freely given his life, all for the purpose of perhaps giving Danzo a strategic advantage…

"Smelling something." The older Inuzuka spoke up. "Multiple signatures incoming from two directions. I'm thinking they're not just scrambling either, they're moving with purpose."

"Hmm…" Shikaku thought for a moment, before turning around to look at all of them. "Well, good news is, we've made it to the eighth sub-level."

They all heard the shuffling of feet on the stone around them, and then, they saw as a few of the faster or more skilled ninja flash stepped into the room, taking battle stances as they moved to surround their squad.

"Bad news…"

A few ninja more rounded the corner, dressed in the traditional garb of Root. They wore all black trench coats, and their faces were adorned with monstrous masks, clear imitations of the Anbu's.

"Is that I think they know we're here."

**End Chapter 42**

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**Heyo.**

**Naruto and Sasuke don't feature in this chapter, but that's mainly because them featuring here would basically just be them arguing with one another as they walked back to the Leaf Village with Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Shizune. Not exactly gripping stuff, though I may end up putting them in next chapter if I think of anything funny to write for them.**

**This will be the first of probably one or two more chapters of the Raid on Root, so we'll be at this for a bit longer.**

**See you all next week!**


	43. Chapter 43

**I feel like I should have something weirdly symbolic here...**

**I don't.**

**Without further ado, this chapter contains best boy.**

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**Chapter 43: An Encounter Lit by Candlelight  
**

* * *

The fight between the twenty or so members of Root and the dozen-ish Leaf Ninja was, in some ways, the most outclassed Sakura had ever felt.

Jutsu the like's of which she'd never seen whizzed by her, narrowly avoided by other's diverting their courses, or stepping in front of them, or cancelling them out with even bigger, more powerful attacks.

It was clearer than ever the difference between them, she and the sound trio, and the rest of the ninja there, all of whom were experienced Jonin who'd been handpicked for this operation.

It was clear that they didn't belong here in the slightest.

"CAREFUL, KID!"

The voice of the elder Inuzuka, who's name was apparently Tsume, called out, and Sakura barely had time to register that she should probably duck, dodge, be aware of what was even about to hit her, before she'd been ensnared by Shikaku's shadow possession, and forced to dodge a Root member's shuriken, one which had curved in such a way that she hadn't even seen it until it passed over her head.

"Th-Thanks!" She shouted back, trying to find somewhere where her abilities might be needed. "I-I-"

"Worry about that later!" Tsume called back to her, dodging underneath an elder Root's Tanto, before embedding her elongated nails into his chest, and cutting across.

It wasn't as gruesome as Sakura had expected, largely due to the man's chest armor, but it still wasn't a pretty sight to watch him stagger backwards, gripping his chest and trying desperately to stem the bleeding as the Inuzuka charged back at him, dodging into his guard and sending him flying back.

He didn't move from where he'd landed on the ground.

Sakura looked back towards the sound trio, where the three were clustered around each other, taking a fairly simple manji formation, where, instead of protecting someone in the rear, they instead stood with their backs against the outermost wall, using it as protection from anything that could threaten them.

She couldn't help but feel that moving around might keep her, at the very least, a tiny bit safer from her opponents abilities, and so she made her way towards them, watching around her as multiple ninja seemed to dart from point to point, crossing kunai and blades as they fought.

Zaku spotted her, offering her a small nod as he kept on the lookout for anyone approaching them. She didn't want to ruin their formation, and so she too put her back to the outer wall just beside them, Watching the battle before her.

"Decided to party it up with us, Princess?" Kin shouted at her, smiling, but not turning away from the action.

"Well, I couldn't much stay in the middle of that, now could I?"

"I get you." Zaku agreed with her, wincing as a particularly brutal hit landed on one of their own ninja, sending him spiraling to the floor. "By the way, didn't you say you could heal earlier? When did you learn to do that?"

"Sort of a growth spurt." She admitted honestly. "Gained the ability through… a bit of an odd method. Hard to explain."

"Desperate measures?"

"Pretty much." She spoke, looking back towards the man and noticing a definite limp to his step as he staggered out of the middle of combat. "I… I think I'm going to try and help that guy."

"Well…" Dosu spoke at last, turning towards her from his position the farthest away from her, on the opposite side. "Good luck with that."

"No help?" She asked, not really expecting any, but kind of hoping for some. "None?"

"Doesn't seem like it, no."

"I could-"

"Shut it, Zaku."

"Right. Sorry."

"So, yeah," Dosu spoke, turning back towards the battlefield. "No help."

She glared at the back of the man's head, but clearly he didn't much care for any response she might've made to his statement, for he'd already gone back to watching the action around them. She couldn't really blame him for that, either, given that they were in a life or death scenario.

She gave up on getting their help and turned back around, to where the downed ninja had managed to push himself to the side, and was administering first aid to his own ankle. It didn't look particularly bloody or anything, but it was definitely bent in a way it shouldn't have been, rather clearly broken.

_Can I fix that? _Sakura wondered idly. _I never really thought about it… but I have no idea how an ankle works or looks._

_"You fixed Anko's heart without ever knowing how it worked." _Her inner self seemed to argue back. _"Just try it. What's the worst that could happen?"_

_I could always end up permanently damaging something. _She couldn't help but think.

_"Well… just avoid doing that."_

_Great, thanks for the amazing advice, me._

She approached the man quickly, but deliberately, announcing her presence from the way she allowed her footfalls to sound. He looked over towards her and, seemingly, recognized her from inside the tunnel. He smirked in a good-natured way.

"Here to fix me up, little missy?"

"That's the plan, I think."

He laughed suddenly, much to Sakura's chagrin.

"Not exactly the most inspiring bed-side manner, but I respect the honesty."

She kneeled down next to him, looking back towards the battle behind her just to see if there were any immediate threats.

"Don't worry about that." The ninja she was attending to spoke, shooting her what the man must've thought was a winning smile. "I'll protect us, you do your thing. I'm just about as effective on the ground as I am on my feet."

She wondered what style of Jutsu he could use to make that particular statement true, but decided not to question it, instead working on drawing out her curse mark while keeping it contained.

It flowed across her skin like flame, as it always did. By the time it reached an appropriate point on her left arm, she was already controlling it. Another moment, and she had it penned in exactly as she wanted, and set to work reaching out for her newfound healing ability.

It was… awkward at best. The absolute panic and heat of the moment rationality of Anko dying had forced her to make a hundred different decisions, decisions that she couldn't quite remember now that she was mostly calm.

She decided to simply try her best to find that power, reaching within her stomach to where she last remembered feeling it. Though, even now, her memories of the incident weren't exactly coming naturally. She sighed as her first attempt fizzled out, a complete dud.

"S-sorry!" She shouted just a tad too loud, cracking her neck back and forth as she reached down. "I'll try once more."

The man she was treating eyed her oddly, a mixture of amusement and confusion on his face. She couldn't help but quail under his attention ever so slightly, but that also didn't me she could stop. He really was at risk if she couldn't heal his leg.

She made a second attempt, breathing in as she let the power flow into her palms. It was the same as the wood style she'd tried to use before, but now, she hoped that pumping in a bit less into the area would mean her hands wouldn't be absolutely riddled with thorns.

Adrenaline had carried her through that particular pain the first time, she had a feeling it wouldn't be helping much if it happened again.

Still, as she focused hard, she did notice a slight green glow surrounding her hands. It was far fainter than it'd been when she'd healed Anko, but it was obvious at the very least that she had found a way to activate the ability, at least on a more technical level.

Now came the hard part; Actually using it.

She focused hard on the bend in the man's ankle, trying to force it back into shape. She ran into a problem fairly early on in her attempt, however.

She didn't actually know how an ankle worked, nor, really, how it should look or be healed. What bones was she connecting to where, how should the muscles be reattached, should she worry about blood vessels that may've ruptured because of the break? It came to her attention that she had no real idea what she was doing.

"You alright there, little missy?" The man asked, wincing slightly as she took the healing aura off of his ankle for a moment. "Can't say you look terribly confident."

"Er… I just kind of realized I don't know how to heal an ankle, basically."

"Well did you know how to heal a heart?"

She groaned at the man's words, hearing her own inner-self's words mirrored back at her, that she hadn't known how to heal a heart, was mildly annoying. Perhaps the fact that she had managed to heal Anko's heart anyways, despite any experience, meant she could rely on her own natural ability?

"I'm just not sure, though." She answered honestly. "If I think back to that time, my brain was just… kind of going crazy. I took a lot of risks because I didn't have anything to lose, I mean, there's a chance I could heal you wrong, and then you're permanently damaged or something, and-"

Her voice was cut off by the man's boisterous laugh.

"Kid, no offense, but I don't think your healing's powerful enough to fix this," He slapped his own broken ankle, and then still managed to look surprised when he winced in pain. "In just a few minutes. Not even someone like that Slug Lady could manage something quite that fast."

Sakura felt herself grow a bit self-conscious at that, as the man looked towards her with a single eyebrow raised.

"And yet, somehow, you managed to restart your master's heart, yeah?"

"…Y-yes sir."

"No thank you on the sir, but I'll ignore it this time. Basically, you're pretty good, so don't worry about it. Trust your own ability" The man smirked. "Though I'm getting the feeling from your bored expression that you've heard a few people tell you this already."

"You'd…" She trailed off for a moment, remembering the numerous people who'd told her to take things slow, or trust herself, or believe in herself in the past few weeks. "You'd be right on that."

"And why won't you listen to them, then?"

"Well… I-"

The man blocked a kunai headed towards his face like a normal person would've swatted aside a playful slap. He made the motion look effortless, barely taking his eyes off her for a moment.

"You can keep going."

She nodded a bit dumbly, feeling like this was perhaps the wrong place to be having a conversation like this.

"It's… my teammates, I guess." She began speaking, before looking back towards the man with her eyebrows drawn down in annoyance. "Wait, why am I telling **_you_** this? I don't even know you."

"It's can be easier to tell someone you don't know, actually." The man said. "Sometimes you'll just see the person across from you as a way to vent your feelings, and hey, if they offer up some useful advice as well, then that's just great, right? Why don't you try healing me while you talk. Who knows, getting your mind off doing it might make it easier for you."

She couldn't fault the man's logic, even if she maybe wanted to. Instead, she sighed, and continued speaking.

"My teammates are… just about the fastest growing people I've ever met." Sakura began to explain as she focused her hazy green aura on the man's ankle. "I know everyone tells me to slow down, but… they never say those things to the two of them. They're constantly learning new Jutsu, or gaining powerful summons, or advancing their abilities, and I'm… I'm just stuck in the corner, not doing anything."

"And you do realize you're doing something, right?"

"Of course, I do!" Sakura shouted out, feeling mildly annoyed. "I'm not dumb! I'm just…" She sighed, trying to ignore the way the battle seemed to be slowing down behind them. "I just feel like… compared to them, I'm nothing."

The man nodded, pushing his hands together in a standard seal that had no noticeable affect to Sakura. She chocked it up as some odd ability, and ignored it.

"I can't say I understand your feelings." The man smiled almost teasingly. "But don't you think you're being just a bit hard on yourself?"

"Yes, yes." Sakura sighed. "I do get it."

"Then maybe… I don't know… get it?"

She paused her healing for a moment, glaring at the man indignantly.

"…You're a bit rude, you know that?"

"I think you've had nothing but people too kind to tell you that this is a 'you' problem." The man smirked, raising an eyebrow. "If I'm wrong, feel free to tell me, but I don't think I am."

She sighed, standing up and looking back over to the battle. The remaining root soldiers were falling back, leaving behind those who'd been captured or, in the case of an unlucky few, killed.

She pushed down on the disgust that welled up from within her, thinking back to Shikaku's words.

_Until I can afford to worry, I can't let this affect me._

"I appreciate your advice." Sakura turned back to the man behind her. "I'll take what you've said into consideration."

The man had the nerve to laugh.

"Right, OK." He gazed down to his injured ankle, and, after giving it a small smack, nodded appreciatively. "Hey, you actually did a pretty good job, too."

"Huh?" Sakura looked down at the limb, which, while still bent, didn't look nearly as inflamed as it'd been before. "Oh… I didn't even notice."

"Well, it's still broken, obviously, but at least it doesn't hurt as much!"

She glared at him for his unhelpful assessment.

"Oi, Homer!" Anko walked over towards the two of them, shooting the man on the ground a harsh glare. "Don't make fun of my student."

"I wasn't, I wasn't!" The man had his hands up in surrender. "Honestly, I was just giving her some friendly advice."

"Yes, I'm sure it came across as incredibly friendly." Anko muttered. "You alright, Sakura?"

"Yeah, I'm…" She shook off some of the fatigue she was already starting to feel, the food pill's hyper energy beginning to wear off just a bit as the adrenaline faded. "I'm good. Yeah."

"Lots of 'yeah's'."

"Don't you start too, Sensei."

"Alright people, Attention!"

All chatter in the room died as Shikaku stepped forward, as commanding a leader as their ever was, he immediately demanded respect.

"We've repelled their scout force, but that's not a combat regiment. Danzo has, if I were to guess, five major squads. He's mobilized perhaps two or three to deal with the first assault team, which means that we'll be dealing with the other two. The intelligence team is, likely, contacting the first assault team to link up with us, but sometime during our trip down the tunnels, they cut off our communications." The man held up his earpiece and, just to show that it wasn't working, turned it on full blast. Sakura could hear the blank static from where she was standing a few feet away.

"That's another reason why we've brought analog communication. Obviously, they won't be able to get any of the hawks down to us, but they should be able to set up a line with first team. It's up to us to anticipate our own men's movements, and act accordingly."

There was a general murmur of acceptance to that, and the man continued.

"We'll be heading into the main hallways outside. They are, If I know anything, trapped from top to bottom. Expect fierce resistance, we're diving into the belly of the beast here. Once I've been able to establish our location, Inuzuka will lead us to where Danzo resides. We will place the man under arrest and win the day. Understood?"

"Yes sir!" Sakura shouted, along with a few others. It seemed the team leaders, and those who'd known him for longer, merely nodded.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned back around to see Zaku smiling at her, with Kin and Dosu close behind. He'd taken some damage to his chest, where there was a razor thin cut, but other than that, he looked fine.

"Oh, this?" He spoke as she pointed out the wound. "I just barely dodged a shuriken someone threw. But barely is all that matters, so I'm fine."

"Heh, truer words." Kin joked, looking towards where Shikaku was discussing something with the female Inuzuka, stood side by side with a massive black canine that resembled a wolf more than a dog. "That thing's…"

"A bit intimidating." Sakura confirmed. "It's larger than me, and by a lot, too."

"I… I hate dogs." Kin admitted. "Dogs were like… half your competition as a kid on the street. And the really powerful guys always employed em', too. If they caught you…" The girl actually shivered, and Sakura had the sudden urge to hug the girl before her, one she acted on the moment later. "H-hey! Get off of me!"

"Don't resist." Sakura muttered into the girl's shoulder. "It is futile."

"Futile my ass!" Kin lightly punched her stomach, forcing her backwards as she giggled at the girl's flustered expression. "Don't just go… hugging people. It's weird."

"You're weird." She fired back. "How about that!?"

"What's gotten in to you?" Kin asked, giggling slightly but also seeming a bit concerned. "You good?"

"No clue what you're talking about." She slurred out, aware of how the world was spinning just a bit. "Oh, wait… I think… Food pill… wearing off soon…"

"Oh." Zaku helpfully supplied. "That's probably quite bad."

"I take it offering another food pill is the improper response in this situation?" Kin asked, reaching into her bag and pulling out a far smaller pill than the one Anko had given her. "I mean… it'd keep you awake."

"And probably give her some very nasty symptoms around this evening." Dosu spoke up, closing the girl's palm around the pill with a casual air. "So no. Now come on, we're moving."

They followed the boy's steps, and noticed that the Jonin were, in fact, finishing up their quick planning meeting. Judging from the expression on Shikaku's face, they'd found out where they were, and the plan they'd come up with was a strong one.

_I just hope nothing goes wrong. _Sakura couldn't help but worry. _We're not exactly in the best position right now._

If something happened…

Well, no one was coming to save them any time soon, that was for sure.

"Alright, same as before, Mitarashi, Inuzuka, clear the hallway first, sniff out any traps you can with your noses and snakes. Genin, you're in front of me, Homer, hold up the rear."

The man in question had put his injured foot in a temporary cast, walking with the help of a wooden cane that Tenzo had manufactured on the spot for him. He seemed in high spirits, despite what must've been at least a decent helping of pain.

Sakura followed alongside her fellows as they stood in front of the team's leader. He signaled silently for Anko and Tsume to advance, and they entered into the hallway. The older woman's dog-wolf-thing sniffed the ground, then turned back towards it's master.

"Quite a few traps, located inside the walls at five, fifteen, and eighteen feet to the east, and ten, twelve, and forty to the west." The dog sniffed the ground once more, turning up again. "There's also one in the floor a few feet past those, I'd say around 10 more."

"Thanks, Kuromaru." Tsume spoke, turning back towards Shikaku and nodding her head. "I'm picking up the same signatures. It seems they've tried to completely isolate this hallway."

"Got it. Mitarashi, can you confirm that?"

"Yeah, one sec."

There were a few noises that, to Sakura, resembled hissing emanating out of the walls around them. Anko turned back towards them, nodding towards Shikaku in a way that seemed to further confirm the traps placements.

"Right then. Tenzo, dig them out."

"Right away." The man spoke, walking out into the hallway and putting his hands on the wall before him. He seemed to push especially hard for a moment, and then focused hard on what Sakura imagined was controlling the roots or vines flowing out from his hands and into the stone and dirt. "The first explosion should go off in around five seconds."

"Don't make a fuss, Genin." Shikaku spoke to them. "We want them to think we got caught in it, maybe they'll send their scouting party back here."

"Do we expect that to work, sir?" Kin asked, looking rather unconvinced.

"Oh, most assuredly not." Shikaku admitted as a loud bang went off some five feet down the corridor, and then another perhaps ten feet beyond that. "If anything, this'll just cause them to further trap the upcoming corridors, but that doesn't mean we can't do it. If I had the choice, I would've liked to have one of the seal-masters from the first assault team, but we don't exactly have a ton of options at the moment, so we're working with what we've got. If we could've done this silently, we would've."

Kin nodded at that, at the very least provided a reason for the actions of the team's leader. Sakura, herself, couldn't help but admire the way Shikaku was able to quickly adapt, turning a method for getting into and out of the base as a way to activate traps from a distance, using a tracker's keen nose to search for enemies scents on traps…

_Yeah. _Sakura smirked as she thought silently to herself. _If only to see how senior ninja operate, this whole missions' been pretty cool._

Another loud bang, and Tenzo turned back towards them.

"That's the last one to the east."

"Excellent." Shikaku walked forward and into the hallway, where Tsume and her dog were already scanning the area up ahead. "And I see you limited the damage as well."

"Figured we'd probably want to use the path as well."

"Hey, look at that," Shikaku smirked, apparently finding the man's words funny in some way. "Seems this place didn't kill your sense of humor after all."

"Yeah, well, believe me, they made an effort."

Shikaku laughed, before turning back to them and gesturing for them to move forward.

"Genin, same formation, Homer, don't be afraid to shout at the slightest sign of movement."

"Got it, sir."

"Let's move!"

Their trip down the corridor was rather uneventful. It would've been much more eventful, had they not had Anko and Tsume, along with the woman's dog, Kuromaru, to check for traps so easily and readily. The pair found more than fifteen on their way to the eighth level's central hall, and Tenzo disarmed them all without much hassle.

Really, it only served to get Sakura more worried. Their trip was quiet, far too quiet from how it'd been just a few minutes prior. It felt like something was bound to go wrong, like something _had _to go wrong.

She remembered Anko's words about normal ninja missions being rather simple things, but she couldn't shake the feeling that, with her luck, things wouldn't exactly go that smoothly.

Finally, as they crested a rather sharp turn in their offshoot hall, they emerged into a far greater one, almost chasmic in scope. It was a wide and open area, and as they walked onto it for the first time, Sakura was able to gaze off to her sides to truly take in the space.

The room was massive, and the walls that made it up, forming a near perfect square, were set around fifty feet out. Really, it was the absence of floor around them that made the room seem so large. Their walkway overlooked a massive drop that seemed to span into an eternal darkness beneath them, and the wooden fencing that kept them on the platform seemed to be just a bit too short, almost inviting one to take the plunge.

Idly, Sakura wondered if this entire space had some odd Genjutsu cast upon it. It seemed almost… ethereal in nature.

They made it to the center of the walkway, and Sakura finally realized that the wooden catwalks they were standing on made up a giant 'X' shape. In three of the four cardinal directions, a hallway had been carved into the wall's around them, and wooden catwalks connected into them to meet in the center. Due north, just in front of them, an ancient looking structure, no bigger than the average apartment, stood in the center, commanding an ominous presence that could've no more obviously stated itself as being their target.

"This is the spot Inoichi gathered from that boy." Shikaku spoke, walking forward. "Anko, Tsume, anything?"

There was a brief pause as both seemed to reach out with their respective Jutsu, but what they received back seemed to be nothing at all, for they both walked back over, looking almost concerned.

"Nothing."

"Negative."

Shikaku's eyes widened very briefly, the only show of weakness the man had given in his entire time as their leader. He sighed out a moment later, turning back towards Homer and gesturing for him to move up.

"If you can, set up a defensive grid. I don't want anyone following behind us without knowing about it."

"Understood, sir." Homer spoke, turning to Sakura and giving her a small wink as he brought his hands together, and then pulled them apart. "I'll get it set up."

Sakura watched with interest as a blue sort of cord appeared out of the man's hands, spreading oddly as he pressed several pieces of it around the gates as they walked ahead.

"Uhm, Anko sensei?" She asked her teacher before their infiltration was set to begin. "What exactly is that type of Jutsu?"

"Ah, you don't recognize it?" She asked, smirking slightly. "You've actually seen a rather simplistic version of it before, during the Chuunin Exams."

That had her scratching her head for a moment, but she remembered just a second later, her eyes lighting up as she made the connection.

"That's the puppet-master Jutsu that Kankuro guy used!"

"Yeah, it is." Anko patted her on the back. "Technically, it's just called a chakra thread. It's most commonly used by puppet masters, sure, but they can be used by just about anyone, provided they've got the control for it."

She looked back towards Homer, who had seemingly finished creating his web of threads, tying them together and walking forward.

"Impressed, girlie?" He asked with a teasing smile. "I learned all this while I was apprenticing in the-"

"No one cares, Homer." Anko sighed. "Please, stop trying to tell everyone who'll listen about how 'endlessly cool' you are."

"Hey! Sakura looked interested!"

"Cut the chatter." Shikaku called from in front. "Mitarashi, Homer, Haruno, retake formation. We're infiltrating the central room in thirty seconds."

They all became serious in but a moment, moving back into their formation's without a single complaint. Sakura couldn't help but gulp down on a bit of spit, feeling the nerves she'd thought were gone flood through her once more.

Shikaku held up his hand, then slowly subtracted fingers by the second. Upon dropping to one, he brought his hand down, signaling for the front-most line to advance.

Stepping into the central room was an odd affair. Sakura had expected flaming traps, or pits of giant alligators, or giant buzz saws. Instead, she'd been given a simple hallway that led into a mid-sized room.

The floor was set with tatami mats, and it crunched down in a rather satisfying way as Sakura stepped down upon it. The walls were lit with candlelight, the waxy objects hanging off of metal ornaments set in the walls. She couldn't quite help but feel relaxed as she stepped into the space, despite how horribly worried she'd been before.

_It feels like… I'm melting away into–_

"High-class Genjutsu." Homer called from the back. "It's a rather simple enchantment, but it's strong. It's already affecting the Genin."

Sakura bolted back into consciousness, just now realizing she'd been being lulled asleep by… something. She turned back to look at the sound trio, and found them in varying states of exhaustion, though Kin looked almost completely fine.

"Can you pinpoint the source?"

"Hmm… given enough time, I could, but it'd take perhaps five to ten minutes, and I'm not even sure I could deal with it if I found out where it was coming from, either."

"A-Actually!"

Everyone turned towards Kin, whose voice sounded shaky, but had a feigned sort of confidence to it that seemed to reflect the girl's nerves.

"I-I might be able to deal with this. I'm pretty sure it's a Genjutsu based in vibration…" Kin swallowed on nothing, before looking back up, this time, her eyes were filled with a real confidence. "That's my specialty."

"Oh?" Shikaku smirked a bit teasingly, patting her on the shoulder. "In that case, what's your plan?"

"I-It's not that amazing… but… I could counteract the Genjutsu with one of my own creation." Kin reached into her back, pulling out a bag filled with perhaps a dozen small bells. "I'll tune these bells so they vibrate at an opposing frequency to the ones around us… and that should work to cancel both of them out."

"Fighting fire with fire, ey?" Homer nodded as he seemed to consider the girl's plan. "Well, it's a much faster method than mine, and we can probably keep moving while we do it."

"You're sure you can manage, kid?" Shikaku asked Kin once more. "If you're at all concerned, there's no shame in-"

"No, sir." Kin sighed, letting go of the last of her hesitation as she stepped forward. "I can do it."

The elder Nara smiled.

"Then by all means."

Kin smiled widely, puffing out her chest just a bit as she allowed herself to become slightly overconfident. She walked to the edge of the room and, after a small moment of concentration, put her head to the wall beside her.

She listened silently for perhaps fifteen seconds, and then brought out one of the bells from the bag, gripping it with her thumb as she brought her hand up in a rather standard activation hand-sign.

The bell began to ring a moment later, and for a good few seconds, Sakura was nearly overwhelmed by the effect of the two Genjutsu working away at her mind at the same time. She found herself forced to the floor, not quite collapsing, but very nearly doing so. It was Zaku who helped her stand, though it was clear from the wince on his face that even he, probably semi-immune to the girl's Genjutsu from having worked with her for so long, was having a rough go of it.

Kin held the bell up to the opposite ear as the one still touching the wall, as if trying to play a separate sound in each. A moment later, she scratched her nail against the side of the tiny instrument, and the sound coming from it began to subtly shift. Sakura wasn't very skilled in music, so she had to admit she had no real clue what was happening with it, but whatever it was, it seemed to only amplify the effect the Genjutsu were having on them, for even Zaku fell, carrying the both of them to the floor.

And then, a moment later, like having moved from the strongest part of a hurricane to the eye in the center, the mist clouding her mind seemed to halve.

"Found it!" Kin shouted, turning back over to them with the bell still vibrating in her hand, and a victorious expression on her face. "Perfectly opposing vibration. I'll tune one for each of us, and that should act as a perfect counter to the sound."

Shikaku took the bell, holding it up to his ear, and smiled as his eyes widened.

"Hah, you actually did it." The man walked over to Sakura and Zaku, reaching down and offering the small object to the two of them. "Here. You two look like you need it the most of anyone."

Sakura took the bell gratefully and found that as she brought it closer to her, she was almost instantly freed from the oppressive feeling that'd been plaguing her mind. Zaku seemed desperate to escape the feeling as well, and so she brought it to rest between them, letting it's melody wash over both of them.

The next two or so minutes were spent waiting for Kin to finish tuning the remaining dozen or so bells the rest of them would need. By the time she finished, the entire group looked better off, and their morale's were up as well as they each took the time to compliment Kin on her ability, patting her on the back, or offering to take her out drinking when she was older.

Kin, for her part, seemed to shrink at the praise, smiling more than Sakura had ever seen from the girl.

The celebration was a bit short lived, as Shikaku brought them all back to reality, pointing out that they were still in an enemy compound.

"We're moving forward into the back room." He gestured towards a black door on the wall, set between two identical scrolls that hung from hooks, and offset by identical potted plants that sat just outside those as well. "We should expect heavy opposition. Danzo's personal chambers are just beyond this."

The mood became serious once more, their group of perhaps fifteen stepping forward. Homer, as per usual, held up the rear, his cane making virtually no noise as he stepped on the soft tatami below them.

As the two women cleared the door, and Kuromaru filed in just after, the rest of them followed and saw just what it was they were dealing with.

"It's…"

"Yeah." Anko spoke, laughing in a completely mirthless way. "It's a tunnel. Question now is where does it lead?"

Shikaku stroked his goatee, evidently thinking hard on what to do now that they'd found this.

"If this is an escape tunnel, then it may already be too late to capture Danzo. Alternatively, if he is gone, then we have no need to oust him from the Leaf Village. We'll instate Tsunade as the fifth Hokage and move on with our lives." Shikaku grimaced slightly. "I just have this bad feeling that bastard wouldn't make it this simple."

Sakura felt an almost insidious panic crawl out from the depths of her mind as she watched almost everyone there nod their heads along with the man's words. Evidently, they hadn't expected this part of the mission to go this smoothly, and it had everyone on edge.

"So what, we going down or not?" Tsume spoke up, looking down into the tunnel with her head and sniffing the air. "Because I feel the need to be honest… it doesn't have a smell."

For some reason, that seemed to be the most shocking piece of news Shikaku had received today, for his head turned almost immediately towards the Inuzuka woman.

"You're sure?"

"Do you honestly doubt me, Nara?"

"Hah." Shikaku let out a sigh, one rife with years of exhaustion. "No. If you say that, though… then…"

"Then he's covering his tracks quite profusely. It's generally almost impossible to completely erase one's scent…" Tsume looked towards Kuromaru. "You getting anything?"

"Only the same information as you." The wolf spoke. "Whatever he's done to hide his scent… We've encountered similar techniques before, but this particular technique is far stronger than any we've seen. For him to take such precautions in the first place, however, means he must've known that those with a keen nose would be tracking him."

"So he must've had recording devices of some kind set up outside the encampment, even past the one's we caught… But then why haven't we encountered more resistance? Why is he seemingly pulling all of his troops back…?" Shikaku clicked his tongue against the top of his mouth, but kept a level head as he turned towards the rest of them. "We're going to investigate that tunnel, and find out what lies at the bottom. Tsume, I assume he hasn't blocked your sense of smell, he's just erased any smells, correct?"

"Yeah." Tsume confirmed. "I can still smell behind us, and this room we're in still smells of the old bastard, so he's been here, at the very least. The problem is his scent just… stops around fifteen feet down the stairway."

Shikaku walked up, drew a kunai out of his bag, and wound his own shadow into the hole on the end of it. Just like that, he guided the kunai down into the hole, to around the fifteen foot mark.

Nothing happened.

"I'm going to throw it in." Shikaku announced. "Everyone prepare for an explosion, just in case."

"I'm so tired of explosions." Sakura voiced her opinion as she stepped backwards. "I'd honestly prefer to just fight some people than be exploded again."

"That's fair, I guess." Zaku nodded.

A moment later Shikaku loosed the blade, sending it flying into the black chasm stretching out into the earth.

And once more, nothing happened.

"Well then…" Shikaku spoke, cracking his neck with one hand and letting out a titanic sigh. "Once more, I'm left with the conclusion that he must've fled, and yet…"

"It just seems suspicious." Anko summed up. "A bit too suspicious."

"Especially since they did take the time to trap this room." Kin pointed out. "Why trap the room if they were planning to run away. Just to prevent us from following as quickly?"

"Exactly, there'd be no point." Homer spoke. "It would've taken them at least fifteen minutes to set this up, and it only took us a few minutes to deal with it. They would've known that while setting this up, as well. It's like they intended to defend this place to the last, but then…" The man actually stopped, and took a deep breath. "Something happened that gave them no choice but to run."

"Hmm…" Shikaku tapped on the wall with one hand, a spot where a particular black mark was etched into the wall, as if something had exploded out of it. "More traps here, too, and they've already been set off…"

Everyone in the room stood with baited breath, waiting to see what Shikaku's orders would be.

"I don't like this… not one bit… But we're left with no alternative." The man turned back towards the Genin. "I'd love to be able to send you back to the first assault team, and have them escort you out of here, but unfortunately that's not an option right now. You're in with us for the long haul."

Sakura gulped at the man's words but couldn't exactly fault them. There was nothing to be done.

"Understood, sir." She nodded, biting back the fear in her voice. "Uhm… does that mean we're following him?"

"It does indeed." Shikaku spoke. "Same formation. Mitarashi, Inuzuka. Front. attack group second, then Genin in front of me, Homer, you're the rear."

"Aye-aye, sir."

"Alright…" Shikaku spoke, walking towards the mouth of the cavern that led down into the depths of the earth, leading to a place none of them knew…

"Let's move."

The trip down into the tunnel was nerve-wracking for Sakura. Even the adults, whom she'd grown to rely upon heavily, seemed somehow disturbed as they took the steps bit by bit, never once easing up or relaxing. It was clear to her that whatever it was they expected to find at the bottom, it was serious.

Light eked out from the bottom of the chasm, in a way that seemed so horribly out of touch with reality, given that they'd already walked what felt like half a mile into the center of the earth. Kuromaru was the first to notice something, but instead of alerting them casually, as he might have normally done, a growl escaped his maw, followed by the words "Be careful."

He and Tsume exited out first, and even from her spot on the stairs, Sakura could make out the way they stilled as they reached the room below.

The space glowed ominously with candlelight, making the shadows dance across the ground and the walls as the flames flickered on endlessly. There were voices coming from inside, and as Anko stepped down into the room, Sakura didn't miss the way her eyes widened.

"Move, but don't make a sound, and don't draw attention to yourselves." Shikaku spoke without a hint of mirth for perhaps the first time that day. "Go."

She and the sound trio both nodded, but she couldn't help the small shaking in her legs as her soles touched the dirt beneath, and she could see the full breadth of the space for the first time.

She could also see the three figures who hung at the back of the cavern.

Though, perhaps it was more accurate to say two figures, given that one of them was merely a corpse.

"We have guests." One of the shadowy figures spoke, standing to his full height and easily towering over everyone else in the hollowed-out lair. "Are you about finished?"

"Almost done, almost!" The other man sounded excited as he fiddled with something on the corpse. "Just give me one more moment, I've almost– Ahah!"

There was a sickening squelching noise as the man pulled a small orb from the corpse below him. It took Sakura maybe a moment to realize that it was one of the dead man's eyes, and in that period of time, she felt a fear and disgust quite unlike anything she'd experienced in her life.

"I've got it!" The excitable, almost boyish presence held up his prize to his partner, waving it around in the air with a strange sense of pride. "Don't you see, I did it!"

"Yes, yes. Well done, I suppose."

"We don't have time to be playing games." Another voice sounded out, seemingly belonging to a third person. "Enemies are directly before us."

"Gosh, you're always so cold, blacky!"

Anko and Tsume both shifted, taking slightly different stances as Shikaku walked forward, drawing a weapon into his hand and bringing it to bear in front of him.

"Identify yourselves!" Shikaku screamed, far louder than he'd been for the entire rest of the day. "Just who the hell are you… how and why did you kill Danzo Shimura!?"

Sakura looked towards the fallen figure once more, seeing the truth of the matter. The man on the floor was Danzo, though she understood now why she hadn't initially recognized him.

His bandages, which he normally wore all over his body, were missing. His face was entirely exposed, and his hair was wild and spiky as it stuck up in odd places. His body was, in some spots, badly charred, and his entire right arm seemed to be… off. She'd never seen it before, but it was covered in oddly shaped bumps and bruises.

There was also a gaping hole in his chest, just around where his heart should be.

"Oh… Can we give our names!?" The energetic one asked, bouncing up and down with excitement as he turned towards his partner. "I'd really love to give my name, I've always wanted to get to respond to the whole 'Identify yourselves!' thing!"

"Sure, if you want to." The other man's first voice spoke up. "It's not like it matters anyways, you're wearing a mask."

"Oooh boy!"

The man stepped out of the shadows, swinging his arms at his sides with near reckless abandon. Despite his cheerful vibe, he gave off an incredibly intimidating aura, thanks to the human eyeball that he carried along with his left hand.

"I'm a member of the Akatsuki!" The man pointed to himself with his right thumb, looking awfully proud, even past the orange, spiraling mask that he wore upon his face.

"My name is Tobi!"

**End Chapter 43**

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**Oh hey, things are happening.**

**I actually love the shit out of Tobi's persona, so getting to write some of him as 'Tobi' and not his actual personality (Which I like just as much, but it's certainly a different mood) is a lot of fun.**

**The other figure possesses two voices, is taller than anyone else in the room, and Tobi calls one of the voices 'blacky' so, y'know, I'll leave that one up to interpretation.**

**So yeah, shit's getting serious.**

**Anyways, that's that. See you all next week!**


	44. Chapter 44

**Without further ado, part 2, electric boogaloo.**

* * *

**Chapter 44: How Does One Move On?  
**

* * *

The first thing Sakura thought to do was take a step back.

Their opponent skipped happily forwards, bowing as he approached, and just in general enjoying making a mockery of all of them. Shikaku seemed to take this the least well, walking forward with his weapon drawn and pointing it, once more, at the man's masked face.

"Alright then, Tobi." The man spoke, an uncomfortable air hanging over his words. "Surrender yourselves to questioning under the authority of the Hokage. You-"

"Oh, under the Hokage?" Tobi put a single finger on his chin, pondering that for a moment, before he waved the eyeball he was holding in his other hand. "Unfortunately, the Hokage is out of commission at the moment, but if you'd like to leave a message, I'm sure he'll get back to you!"

Shikaku let out a breath that ended up as more of a growl.

"I'll repeat my earlier question, how and why did you kill Danzo Shimura!?"

Tobi looked back towards his accomplice, still stood in the shadows and shrugged towards the man as if to question whether or not he was allowed to answer.

"Eh, It doesn't really matter, not like they could stop us anyways." The more high-toned voice sounded out, followed almost immediately by the gravelly, but similar voice that apparently belonged to 'blacky'. "Keep it brief. I know you like to play, but now's not the time."

"Aw…" Tobi's voice shot out, sounding legitimately disappointed. "You're both no fun."

There was a brief pause.

"Oh, right!" The cheerful man suddenly sprung back to life. "You asked for details! Silly me, I almost forgot."

Tobi stood to full height, making a long 'hmm' noise as he thought about what to say.

"Alright, I've got it!" He shouted suddenly, making everyone in the room, including his partner stood at the back, recoil slightly. "So, basically, there we were, sitting inside our base a couple of days ago-"

"Skip that part." The accomplice called out. "Gods I swear you're trying to get us caught…"

"Aww…" Tobi pouted, and Sakura could tell, even if she couldn't see it. "Well, anyways, a few of our members already had a bit of a personal grudge with the guy, like 'Big Time Hate', y'know?"

She couldn't help but feel this man should've been taking this more seriously, because despite his cheery atmosphere, she felt she was about to pass out from the stress.

"Anyways, so we hear the leaf's about to rebel against Danzo and arrest him, and we think "Hey, that seems like a pretty good opportunity to sneak into his base and kill him!"" The man spoke about plotting a murder about as casually as if he was talking about a barbeque with his friends. "So basically, me and Zetsu over there-"

"You weren't supposed to say my name!" The other man called from the shadows, before sighing audibly and stepping out of them. "Fine, I guess if I no longer have anonymity, I might as well introduce myself."

Upon seeing more than the man's silhouette, Sakura realized that he wasn't actually all that tall. In truth, he was of average height. The giant Venus Fly Trap that he wore as a collar, however, was what made up the brunt of his height, and it made him look more than a little imposing, easily towering above everyone else in the room. He, like Tobi, wore a black kimono that had a red patterned cloud design set along it.

"Zetsu." The man introduced himself simply, giving an ominous smile as he walked over to stand behind his ally. "A pleasure."

"Anyways, as I was saying, this mission was entrusted to me and Zetsu! So, we use our super cool Jutsu's to get down here, wait for Danzo to send almost his entire division out, deal with the stragglers, confront him, and then kill him!"

There was a heavy silence that Sakura felt she could almost grab hold of. It stretched far longer than she thought it should've, only ending as Tobi himself coughed, tilting his head as if he were confused.

"So uh… any more questions?" He asked awkwardly, like a child presenting a school project. "Because if you don't, then we've got places to-"

"So…" Shikaku spoke, sounding, strangely, like he was exerting himself a bit. "What's with the eye?"

"Oh, this?" He held up the glossy orb, and Sakura cringed slightly. "Well, y'see, a long time ago, during the culling of the Uchiha-"

Tobi suddenly stopped moving, making a rather intriguing noise as he struggled against the binding force of Shikaku's shadow.

"Oh? Ohoho!?" The man's mask turned upwards, looking towards Shikaku. "That's quite impressive, Mr. Nara! You actually casted your shadow control from behind the two of us so we couldn't see it!"

Sakura saw that Zetsu had also been caught up in the ability as well, their two shadows conjoined in the candlelight by Shikaku's black threads.

"Still, you didn't have to interrupt my story! I was just getting to the good part." Tobi seemed to be almost completely unaffected by the Shadow Constriction, reaching up with his hand and showing off the pale, fleshy ball in his palm. "As I was saying, during the time of the Uchiha massacre, Danzo Shimura actually had a few agents under the command of Root! One of whom was Shisui Uchiha!"

Shikaku's hold on the two seemed to fluctuate for a moment, before he was able to find his 'footing' once more, and re-anchor the two of them.

"No… You…" The older man shook his head. "You're suggesting that-"

"That Danzo helped to manufacture the slaughter of the Uchiha clan for his own aims?" Tobi tilted his head to the side, and Sakura thought she could almost see the man's manic smile, even past the mask he wore on his face. "Why, I'm not suggesting anything, my dear 'Shika'. I'm just saying that it's awfully coincidental that he was in possession of multiple Sharingan, not the least of which was the eye of Shisui himself."

_What!? _Sakura felt like all of this was coming out of nowhere. _But… when Sasuke told us this story…_

"Well… any questions?"

"But Sasuke said it was Itachi who killed Shisui!"

Everyone in the room turned towards her, and it still took Sakura a moment to realize it was her who'd acted out. She shivered as the black hole in Tobi's mask turned towards her, and the man's posture became almost teasing in nature, despite the supposed control of Shikaku's shadows.

"Ah, of course." The man spoke, his voice suddenly lacking in its previous cheery nature. "You're the one on a team with… How very interesting."

Anko stepped in front of her, breaking formation to directly protect her.

"Ah, and you're the one Orochimaru experimented on so very long ago." Tobi spoke out. "How funny that the two of you would form such a relationship. Master and Student, but both affected by the same man."

Anko drew a weapon, pointing it towards the man's face. In response, Tobi merely held his hands up in a playful surrender.

Shikaku's eyes widened once more.

"How are you moving!?" He asked suddenly, trying to intensify the hold of his shadows. "I have you under my-"

"Oh, right, Sorry!" The man suddenly froze in place. "Is that better?"

Shikaku actually growled, as did Anko as she walked up to the man, her weapon drawn.

"Sir, permission to unmask this one?"

"Granted."

Anko reached forward with her hand, gripping the edges of the man's mask.

"Ah, wait, wait! It'd be very bad for Tobi if his secret identity came out!"

Anko breathed out a laugh, clearly uncaring to the man's plight, and pulled on the mask.

Her hand phased right through it.

"Wait… what!?"

"Well, y'see… it's a bit compli-"

Anko swung her blade at the man's mask, evidently trying to break it right off his face, but the blade phased through him, and Tobi continued to completely ignore her as she jumped backwards and out of his effective range.

"Ah, I guess my secrets out." Tobi spoke, clearly pouting. "That's a crying shame, I was going to reveal it in this really cool way!"

"You've played around long enough, Tobi." Zetsu called from behind the man. "Hurry and wrap this up, we don't have all day."

"Ugh, fine, fine." The man stepped forward, ignoring the shadow constriction that was supposed to be keeping him in place. "Well, you heard the guy." The man looked back over his shoulder, as if checking to see if Zetsu was watching him, and then put a hand up next to his mask, as if to stop his partner from reading his lips. "He's one of my bosses, so as much as I'd like to keep playing around, I've kind of got things to do, sorry!"

Tsume and Kuromaru leaped at him from the sides, trying to dig their claws into his body, but they merely phased right through. Shikaku threw a flash grenade right at the man's feet, filling the room with light, and thus, breaking his shadow's control, though it should've at least stunned Tobi in his tracks.

Yet he simply kept walking.

"Ah, wait, I almost forgot!" The joker turned back around, and he looked Sakura directly in the eye, or, at least, she assumed he did. "You asked me if Itachi was responsible for killing Shisui."

Her eyes widened as the man held up the eyeball before them, showing off the intricate windmill pattern that resided on the irises.

"Well, I'll say that while Itachi certainly did kill his clan, that wasn't the only thing happening that night." His voice seemed to take on a different edge, now. There was something inside his cheeriness that so very clearly labeled it as fake. "Conspiracies were in play dating back to long before the First Shinobi World War, and they were coming to a head before Itachi did what he did. But if you're asking who killed Shisui Uchiha?"

The man stepped backwards, pointing towards where Danzo's corpse lay on the ground, unmoving.

"Your only real answer would be the body before you."

No one in the room spoke, but Tobi reached up and began to massage his chin with one hand. His voice seemed different now, like it was being processed in some way, forced out of a machine in his throat, almost entirely artificial.

"Not that it matters. People are always so eager to brush tragedy under the rug, forget about the reasons it happened, and walk away. That's never changed, and it never will."

Sakura took a step back as the man's words grew more and more frightening. A moment later, however, Zaku stepped up in front of her as well, joining Anko in a protective formation around her.

"Ah, the hopeless romantic trying to protect a young, fragile flower." Tobi's voice sounded completely different now, taking on a dangerous, raspy edge that seemed to make everyone in the room tense. "How utterly… nostalgic."

"Oi." The black side of Zetsu called out, interrupting the man's spiel. "Tobi. We're going."

Whatever spell the masked man had been under, he seemed to snap out of it, suddenly reaching up with both hands and clapping them together, making everyone in the room jump.

"My mistake, everyone!" Tobi called out. "I went and got all serious, completely ruined the mood!"

He stepped back, and everyone watched as Zetsu grabbed Danzo's body with his massive headpiece, and the thing absorbed the corpse on the spot, seemingly eating it before their eyes.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I've had a lot of fun today!" The men both walked until their backs were against the wall. Zetsu seemed to melt into the stone, sinking further and further into it until he vanished from sight. Tobi took one last bow, completely ignoring three of Homer's shuriken phasing right through his upper body. "May we meet again, everybody!"

His body phased straight into the stone behind him, until only his mask was uncovered.

"Toodaloo!"

And then the two were gone.

There was a complete lack of noise that, rather than detract, seemed to only add to the intense feeling they were experiencing. It felt as if any moment now, those two would reappear and attack them once more, and yet…

"Spread out!" Shikaku called to all of them, already walking back into the tunnel they'd taken down here. "I want any and all men that aren't busy cleaning this place up gathering info on those two! We have names, or at least aliases, interview anyone and everyone until you've got something! Set up a perimeter in the forests around, tell them not to approach under any circumstances, I'm labeling the both of them as S-class threats!"

"Yes sir!"

Sakura followed along behind the group, taking their same formation as they climbed the tunnel's stone steps. When they made it to the top, they were greeted by familiar faces.

"Shikaku." Choza spoke, looking a bit worse for wear, and sporting a few decently sized cuts along his arms and legs. "What of Danzo?"

"Dead."

"Ah, well, I suppose it couldn't be helped, he was-"

"Not by our hand."

The Akimichi's eyes widened, and he took a step forward, almost wanting to step into the tunnel himself. He held back, however, likely seeing the way some of their postures were still stilted from fear.

"Then… who the hell killed him!?"

Shikaku laughed quietly, a mirthless thing that died the moment it exited his mouth.

"Yeah." He spoke softly. "That's what we're going to find out."

/-/

Relief efforts for people you'd been trying to kill only a few hours ago were a weird thing for Sakura.

Especially since she was officially starting to lose it in terms of staying conscious.

_The world is spinning. _Sakura thought as she leaned against the wall beside her, trying to fight off her exhaustion. _Why is the world spinning?_

Anko had told her she could go to the hospital as soon as they'd gotten back, but she'd also said her sleep schedule would basically be forfeit if she did, and that if she toughed it out, at least until the evening, she wouldn't have to worry about that.

Which was a fine idea in theory, until Sakura actually had to set about putting it into practice.

She very nearly tripped on her own two feet, before someone caught the box she was carrying in her hands, holding it and her aloft.

"You oughta' be more careful, brat."

She looked up into the eyes of the ninja in front of her with a blank stare, still trying to process where she was and who the hell this really tall guy thought he–

"Zabuza!"

"Kid, if you actually forgot I existed-"

"I didn't!" She argued, trying to shake away the grogginess in her head. "I'm just… just really tired right now."

"Hah." The man laughed at her pain, taking the box from her and signaling with his head for her to follow behind him. "I've heard you ingested an errant food pill."

"Who told you that?"

"Well, you probably told Ino, who told my brat, who then told me," The man sighed, rubbing his temples. "Because apparently anything out of the blonde's mouth is worth me hearing about."

Sakura laughed at the man's misfortune, earning a glare from him as they stepped out of one of the many connecting hallway's in Root and into one of the main training grounds, which had, for the time being, been converted into a makeshift detention center.

She was also beginning to see just how brainwashed some of these people truly were.

"If you think we'll believe that garbage, you've got another thing coming!" One Root member screeched out, hair flying every which way.

"Yeah! Like hell he's dead!"

"If Lord Danzo's really dead, then show us a body!"

Sakura felt a feeling of annoyance wash over her, before she smothered it, and forced herself to keep walking. Talking with those people wasn't her job, her job was to move relief supplies, and the more she let herself get swallowed by it, the sooner it'd be evening, and the sooner she could sleep.

Well, more accurately would be visit the hospital for quite a few days, but, hey, she wanted to forget about that part until she actually had to do it.

_I wonder what it feels like to get your stomach flushed out… _Sakura pondered quietly. _Like… is it going to feel like I've swallowed a ton of water… or more like I'm getting a tube shoved down my esophagus?_

"Oi, still alive over there?"

Sakura blinked, looking up towards Zabuza's face with a hazy expression.

"I'm fairly sure, yes."

"Heh, smartass. Fine, carry your own box then."

He threw the crate back at her, which she caught with an obscene amount of effort, panting dramatically as the fifteen-pound object nearly brought her to her knees.

"Oh, don't be a baby."

"I said I was tired!"

Zabuza went back to work, actually waving goodbye as he did, which Sakura was pretty sure was about as close as she was going to get to the man admitting he liked them. A small bit of commotion out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. She turned towards where a few Leaf ninja were arguing with some cuffed Root soldiers, who even now clung to the fact that Danzo, who was apparently their lord and savior, was in fact very alive.

"He might've retreated for now, but he'll come back!" The woman shouted, a manic smile on her face. "He'd never abandon us!"

The leaf ninja, who from this distance Sakura vaguely recognized as the captain of Team 8, Kurenai, nodded and walked off, clearly deciding her attention was better utilized elsewhere, but that wasn't the end of the woman's ramblings.

"We would gladly give our lives for his cause, you cannot contain us!" She shook against the seals binding her wrists and arms. "If you honestly think you can tame us, then by all means, try your-"

"STOP DELUDING YOURSELVES!"

All sound in the area stopped, including that of the Leaf Ninja playing interference. All heads turned towards the woman who'd screamed, standing up from her spot at the edge of the room. Like all the other Root ninja, she was bound with many seals across her body, though there was something about her conduct that seemed to declare that, despite the bindings, she was still in charge of the situation.

"You claim that Lord Danzo's only retreated, and yet you all know the truth, do you not!?"

Every member of Root who'd been screaming and shouting suddenly went quiet, looking down at the ground.

"The marks on your tongues… have they not faded?" Ra called out to them all. "Have they not disappeared!? Please, if any of you still retain the seal, then by all means, speak up!"

None did, instead, it was as if any energy the soldiers had once was taken from them, sapped by some strange mechanism that stole their will. Ra took a breath, and it seemed, for a second, that that would be the end of it.

Instead, she continued.

"Danzo stole… everything from us. He gave us brothers and sisters, friends and confidants, and violently ripped them from our sides, made us do the dirty work, made us strip ourselves of our humanity."

There wasn't a single person not transfixed by the woman in the room, even Sakura, with her sleep-addled brain, couldn't help but hang on the doctor's every word.

"And some of us might've thought that was it… that we'd simply die to forgive ourselves of that sin, hell, I know I did." Ra took another breath, trying to recover from shouting so loudly. "But we can't just let him take everything from us and get away with it!"

Sakura noticed Sai out of the corner of her vision. His head was down, and he was gazing forlornly at an old looking book. He seemed to cradle it in his hands, and Sakura knew almost instinctively that it must've been extraordinarily important to him.

"I don't know any of you, not really. Danzo made sure it stayed that way. Never show emotion, never talk to anyone unless it's a part of your mission, never interact with anyone outside the compound unless required…" Ra breathed hard, grinding her teeth together in anger. "He wanted us to be goddamned machines! And we all just… just sat there and called him our lord!"

The stunned silence of those who'd previously been so proud of Danzo was unmistakable, as if that part of them was leaving, and by the minute, they were losing some sort of buoy they'd been using to float across the ocean of life, their safety net. In a moment, they'd be left to tread water on their own, no help coming.

For some, it seemed to much to bear.

"I… I can't!"

It was the woman from earlier, who'd screamed out that any and all of them refused to be tamed or controlled, that they'd fight for Danzo until the end of their days. She was holding a kunai to her neck, preparing to end her own life.

"Without him… without Danzo… even if all of this is his fault, even if he stole everything from me… without him to direct me, or give me orders, or tell me what to do, then… then where are we?" The woman asked, smiling despite the blade to her throat. "I can't… I can't get back what I've lost… so why should I bother trying to start it all up again!? Why should I keep fighting!?"

"Because there will be no greater insult to that man than for us to move past him."

The woman's eyes widened as Ra took a step towards her, gently outstretching her hand as if to reach out to her.

"He wanted us to be disposable garbage, tools to be thrown at the closest problem, cold, unfeeling." Ra smiled; despite all she'd just said. "But we're people. We're human beings, with thoughts, and feelings, and emotions that can't be caged by some bastard with an eyepatch."

The doctor reached the woman across from her, but her counterpart still held the knife to her neck, digging into it slightly.

"What's your name?"

The woman's hands shook, drawing a small stream of blood that, while frightening, certainly wasn't lethal.

"Don't… have one…"

"You don't remember it?"

"I…" The woman dropped her head, closing her eyes as she seemed to be falling apart. "Forced to forget. We had no need of names, we never needed-"

"Those parts of your memories should be returning." Ra spoke. "I know mine are just beginning to."

The kunoichi let out a rasping breath, having seemingly found some sort of resistance.

"I… I can't remember it… I don't want to remember it!" The woman screamed. "My… my mother and father… everyone… I don't…" She shook her head, as if denying their very existence. "I can't remember them now… I don't… they're…"

Ra said nothing, merely nodding as she kneeled in front of the woman before her.

"I'm sorry it hurts so bad." The doctor Sakura had been working with for over two weeks now put a hand on her heart, smiling at her as gently as she could. "My name is Ra. May… I ask what yours is?"

A silence that seemed to stretch to eternity itself filled the training hall, and no one could so much as blink as the woman let the blade fall from her neck. She still clutched it tightly in her right hand, though there was a certain sedated mood to the woman's movements that suggested she'd lost that last little bit of fight.

"Mary." She spoke quietly, only barely loud enough for Sakura to hear over the silence. "It's Mary…"

The relief on Ra's face was evident as she scooted forward ever so slightly, trying her best not to aggravate the woman in front of her.

"Then Mary… I'll ask… if there's any part of you that thinks you could keep going," Ra held her hand out. "Then please, try."

The woman across from her seemed to break in that moment, a small, quiet sound coming from the back of her throat that sounded, vaguely, like a sob. She let the blade fall from her hand, the kunai clanging against the stone beneath her with a palpable weight.

"Thank you." Ra spoke simply, reaching out and hugging the woman before her. "Thank you."

Mary broke down almost instantaneously, huge, echoing sobs that wracked her body as she grasped onto Ra's body.

_She might've gone from one lifeline to another… _Sakura thought to herself, smiling despite the underlying darkness they faced. _But I have a feeling this one will treat her much better._

A loud clapping echoed out from behind Sakura, and she turned on a dime to see just who the hell–

_Wait… what?_

A blonde woman in a green kimono stepped past her, and following soon behind her were three familiar faces, and another she didn't know.

And also, apparently, a tiny pig.

"Now, that's what I like to hear." The blonde shouted out, stepping into the room with a sharp grin as she surveyed her surroundings. "Well done there. So, where's this operations leader?"

No one in the room answered her.

"Hey, what's the matter?" The woman stomped her foot down on the ground. "Get up and get moving, I haven't got all day!"

_Who's this asshole? _Sakura couldn't help but wonder as her eyes narrowed. _Can she not read the mood?_

A room that led outside of the training hall opened up, and the commander of their mission stepped in, flanked by the other sub-commanders, Choza Akimichi and Inoichi Yamanaka.

"My apologies." Shikaku Nara ran towards the woman with a tired smile. "It's been an awfully long time, Lady Tsunade."

"Huh!?" Sakura let out without thinking, far louder than she perhaps should've been given the circumstances. "This lady!?"

Several ninja behind her gave a laugh, evidently feeling much the same way about the sudden celebrity arrival. It seemed like most of the younger ninja didn't exactly know who the woman was, while many of the older ninjas shushed their peers, seemingly holding the Sannin in much higher regard.

"What was that, kid?" The woman stepped up, a fragile smile on her face that looked like it could explode within a moment. "Got something to say?"

"Lady Tsunade." The woman who held the pig in both hands called out to the blonde in a firm tone. "What did I say?"

Tsunade visibly deflated, a small, almost guilty expression appearing on her face.

"N-no fighting with children." She murmured quietly.

"Yes. No fighting with children."

The Sannin muttered something under her breath, something that sounded more than a little like a rebuttal to her compatriots assessment, but she must've thought it wouldn't fly against the woman, for she certainly didn't say it out loud.

Seeing Tsunade before her, a ninja who supposedly stood on the same level as Jiraiya and Orochimaru, being told off by a woman holding a pig, and she herself more than a little drugged up from a lack of sleep, Sakura couldn't help but say the first thing that popped into her head.

"Well," She said with a small, loopy smile. "You're a bit disappointing."

Pandemonium struck almost instantly.

The Sannin's face went beet red, while her teammate, Jiraiya, let out a wheezing laugh, falling to his knees as he clutched his mouth, trying to reign in his smile.

"What the hell did you say, brat!?"

"Oh my god, it was all worth it." Jiraiya stammered out between breaths, falling uselessly to the floor as tears gathered in his eyes. "All those times of getting called a pervert, or a frog guy, or a fake sage, it was all worth it for that!"

"L-Lady Tsunade!" The woman's retainer reached under the Sannin's arms and held her back, likely saving Sakura's life. "Please, hold yourself back!"

"Didn't you hear that goddamned kid!?"

"I heard her!"

"And you're still holding me back!?"

"Child abuse is never the answer!"

"It certainly **_feels_** like the answer!"

Anko walked over to Tsunade, bowing before her with a nervous smile.

"Eheh… I'm sorry about my student." She let out, actually nervous. "I'd appreciate if you could – Sakura for the love of all that is holy, bow your head."

Sakura did as she was told, feeling like she didn't exactly want to be murdered any more than the next guy, and was rewarded with a low growl from Tsunade.

"Disappointing she says." The woman practically hissed. "See what she'll say when I demote her a rank…"

"Genin is the lowest rank, Lady Tsunade."

"Be quiet, Shizune." The woman spoke as she walked past her. "I don't need your truths right now."

She conferred with Shikaku for several minutes, arguing back and forth about something or another. And at last, Sakura found an opportunity to speak to the final two people who'd just entered the room.

"Hey guys." She smiled groggily, trying to fight back some of her exhaustion as she walked up to them. "Been a bit, I suppose."

"Saakuraaaaa!" Naruto tackle-hugged her as soon as she approached, smirking in that sun-like way he always did. "We missed you!"

Sasuke nodded, offering her a light, almost awkward handshake.

"Good to see you." He smiled subtly. "We were worried."

"Heh, speak for yourself!" Naruto flaunted, crossing his arms over his chest. "I knew she'd be fine."

"Naruto, you very nearly puked from the nerves on our way back."

"Ergh… you weren't supposed to mention that."

Sakura laughed, an honest, free laugh that she hadn't had the chance to make in… nearly a week and a half now. It might not have seemed like much, but spending that long in what was basically a prison was an experience for the girl.

She really, really hadn't been expecting to start crying though.

"Uh… Sakura?" Naruto looked afraid, and rightfully so, given Sakura had, basically, completely broken down in front of him with no warning. "Y-you alright?"

"I'm fine!" She stressed as the tears kept flowing. "I'm actually fine, I don't know why I'm-"

She was enveloped in a hug from both of her teammates, and the warmth of their bodies pressed against her own was enough to cause her tears to dry up.

"I…" She murmured under her breath, still more than a little embarrased. "Maybe I wasn't so alright for a while… but I'm alright now."

The conversation Tsunade had been having with Shikaku seemed to have ended, for she stepped away from him, wearing a victorious smile that seemed to contrast oddly with the other man's exasperation.

The Sannin placed her hands on her hips as she stood in the center of the room, looking around at the numerous Leaf and Root ninja that permeated the space. She took a deep breath, then looked towards Ra and Mary, the latter of which had only just separated from the former, her eyes red and puffy.

"Right. So, from what Shikaku's telling me, Danzo's really dead."

The two couldn't quite meet Tsunade's eyes, looking down at the floor and nodding.

"Well, for the time being, at least until we can get Root integrated into our regular forces, and help rehabilitate you all, you're going to need someone to lead you." The blonde woman smirked, pointing a single finger at Ra. "And I think it should be you."

The Root operative seemed taken aback, pointing to herself as she swiveled her head, seeing everyone in the room looking at her. It didn't seem as if there was anyone doubting her, yet, on that same coin, it didn't necessarily seem as if she had any real supporters as of yet.

Well, except for perhaps one.

"Y-you should!" Mary spoke up, trying her best to smile. "I… well, I don't really know anything about leadership…"

"None of you would," Tsunade shit talked. "Having only Danzo as an example."

"But!" Mary continued, perhaps choosing to ignore the Sannin's words. "I think you'd be great at it."

"M-Me?" Ra seemed rather unsure herself. "But… I'm just a doctor."

"Hey, welcome to the club." Tsunade smirked. "I'm just a doctor as well, and here I am, Hokage of the Hidden Leaf."

"Well," Shikaku coughed. "That's technically still unnof-"

"Shhh."

"Right, sorry."

"As I was saying," Tsunade said, regaining her footing. "You don't have to be some super warrior to lead. In fact, I think what Root needs right now is someone who can help them through this transitionary period."

Ra shook her head, evidently still denying what the woman had said.

"Why not Fu, or Torune?" She argued, turning to look towards them, where they'd been bound in the center of the room, using six seals each. "They're more powerful than I am, and they served directly under Lord Danzo as his left and right, they're-"

"Like I just said, power's not everything." Tsunade rebuked, stepping over towards the two ninja. "Besides, I think if you asked them, they're not exactly the types to lead."

Torune stayed silent, but Fu looked up, acknowledging the woman.

"There's a chance I could lead, but… I've certainly always preferred taking orders." The man admitted honestly. "I've always lacked the drive that prevented me from wanting to lead more than a squadron, let alone that would allow me to try and succeed Lord Danzo, of all things."

"But…" Ra seemed in denial. "That's…"

"Welp, there you have it!" Tsunade turned back towards her. "I do believe you've just been promoted to temporary leader of Root."

"I– this…" Ra sighed loudly as she ran a hand down her face, before she stood, and, with a tired smile, bowed before the Sannin before her. "I am honored."

Tsunade held her hand out, which Ra shook after a second spent deliberating.

"From one Medical Nin to another?" She smiled. "I think you'll do just fine."

/-/

The patterned stone walls surrounding them were lit by the flames of numerous candles, spaced evenly apart so that they made the shadows dance in intricate ways.

Kabuto had always hated this place, no matter what he might've said about it. It was too cramped, too damp and soggy, too warm and humid, too… too…

"Lord Orochimaru." Kabuto spoke as he entered the man's chambers, flanked on both sides by the person's he'd been given responsibility over. "I've brought them."

"Excellent." The shrill voice of the Snake Sannin sounded out from the darkness, and a single wave of the man's hand called for the dismissal of everyone in the room who weren't those five. "Leave us, Kabuto."

It was a rare sight indeed that he would not be invited to listen in on a plan. He'd been with Orochimaru for… too many years, and at this point, he liked to think he'd have earned the man's trust.

Turned out that Orochimaru was overwhelmingly paranoid, although perhaps for good reason. The man had joined and left more dangerous organizations than one could realistically deal with, including working alongside Danzo, and the Akatsuki, who were only now beginning to start their plans.

Still, he acquiesced to the Sannin's request, bowing and allowing the sound five, well, four now, to pass by behind him, kneeling down in front of the man and waiting to hear of their mission.

Despite seemingly wanting secrecy from him, if was not as if Kabuto couldn't guess the nature of their request. There was only one thing left in the Leaf that would still interest the Snake Sannin, and Kabuto didn't have to guess as to what that would be.

_Somehow, someway, that man intends to obtain Sasuke Uchiha. _Kabuto knew without any doubt. _The question now… is what did he mean earlier…_

Kabuto stepped down the spiral staircase leading into the heart of their base. He wound threw the tunnels for five or ten minutes, until, at last, he arrived at his own living area. He stepped into it and slung off his bag of ninja tools, sitting down at the nearby desk and yawning fitfully.

He had grown a bit tired of dealing with the Leaf Village, especially recently, having to aid Danzo of all people during their raid. Their ally he might've been, but that didn't mean he ever wanted to have to deal with the man responsible for his mother's death.

When they'd finally met during his first infiltration into the Leaf Village, alongside Orochimaru, his rage had been a thing he'd barely been able to keep under control. He'd not even been able to kill the man, for he was too useful to the Snake Sannin's schemes.

He poured himself a small saucer of sake, downing it in a single gulp and letting out a breath as it burned against the back of his throat. He was barely under the legal age, though he was fairly sure no one in the building was checking. Still, they might not have been, but…

"Sorry, mom." He muttered quietly. "I guess I ended up drinking before I was supposed to."

He raised the empty saucer towards the wall before him, pretending as if he had some form of memento to remember his mother by on it, instead of the blank, cracked stone wall in front of him.

With Danzo dead, however, and his mother vicariously avenged, he couldn't help but feel a tiny, almost inflamed righteousness in his chest.

It was contrasted by a melancholic feeling, one which only intensified as he took off his glasses and set them down in front of him, choosing to use his mother's old pair as a way to remember her.

"Since today's a special occasion, I felt I'd celebrate somehow." He smiled sadly. "hope you'll forgive me."

There was no response, and he couldn't help but feel a bit stupid as he leaned back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling above him and sighing.

"Damned kid…" he mumbled quietly. "Why'd you have to make me think about this stuff?"

The particular kid he was thinking of passed through his brain, and even in his head, annoyingly enough, he was still smiling. He was left thinking about the other child he'd been fighting a day or two back, who'd soon be the target of another of Orochimaru's schemes.

Kabuto still couldn't get the man's words from a few days prior out of his head, the ones that had been capped off by a laugh as sinister as he'd ever heard from the Sannin.

_What did he mean when he said…_

_That he'd kill two birds with one stone?_

**End Chapter 44**

* * *

**Yo yo yo!**

**Another week another chapter. Capping off The Root Invasion, and moving into the next arc, which will begin soon, probably.**

**First of all, I'm going on vacation for a week in three weeks, so you'll get no chapters after the 25th of March until the 8th of April (Which I'm just now realizing is only actually one week of missed chapters).  
**

**Quick sidebar, because I'm not quite sure how people feel about OC's in stories, but I wanted to clarify how I'll be using them, especially now that the story will be branching out more and more from the original show.**

**Almost all OC's, like, for example, Homer in the last chapter and Mary in this one, will be one chapter exclusives. They show up to help illustrate the point of the chapter (Mary), or just to make the world seem a bit larger and make a bit more sense (Homer), and then they're gone. The occasional OC, like Ra in this arc, or Reis in Zaku's arc, might show up in future arcs, but they'll never eclipse a major character in any way outside of their exact moments, since their arcs are over. Some characters may also be added to give depth to characters who, in the original story, had none, like Zaku with Reis. I hope that clears up any concern, because we will be visiting a few places in this story that the main show never went to, and it would then make sense for some people to be there that were never actually encountered in the story, even if I can't exactly give examples of that right now, 'cause spoilers.**

**Tldr: Ra's not going to be a mainstay, and neither are any other OC's. They may cameo from time to time, but don't expect them to take on major roles outside of their arcs, if they take them on at all.**

**Anyways, that's all for right now, see you all next week!**


	45. Chapter 45

**Struggled with what to name this chapter for like a day and a half. Still not sure it's all that great, but I had to settle at some point.**

**Anyways, without further ado, let's continue.**

* * *

**Chapter 45: The Encroaching Dark  
**

* * *

Sakura was, after a week-long stint in the hospital, finally out, and Naruto couldn't have been more thrilled.

"Sakuraaaaa!" He called out to the girl as she walked out of the sliding doors, waving tiredly at the three of them as she stepped into the sunlight, briefly shielding her face as he charged at her. "Welcoooome…"

He glomped on top of her, nearly knocking his friend over if not for Anko's hand on the girl's back, keeping the both of them upright.

"Back!" He smirked at the girl's annoyed expression. "How was the stomach flushing?"

A pair of arms grabbed onto him from behind, and suddenly he was being pulled off of Sakura and held aloft in the air. He felt a bit embarrassed, flailing slightly with his arms and legs as Kakashi set him back down, sighing.

"Please don't jump on top of the recently released patient." The man spoke simply, a small smile beneath his mask as he looked back towards the girl in question. "I'm fairly sure she's not trying to make a repeat visit so soon."

"You'd be right." Sakura let out with a yawn. "I've slept enough in the past week to never want to again, but I have a feeling come tonight that'll change."

Sasuke breathed out a laugh, before gesturing towards the Hokage's building off in the distance.

"Tsunade called our team in, should we go now, or…?"

"I don't see why not." Sakura agreed. "I mean, the sooner we're done, the sooner we can go eat lunch."

"Ooh!" Naruto raised his hand excitedly, smiling widely. "Can we go for Ichiraku!?"

"Well, normally I'd be down for that," Sasuke spoke, frowning slightly. "But we've got five people here, along with what I assume will be four more, and Ichiraku's only got six chairs."

"Four more?" Sakura spoke, tilting her head in confusion. "I only invited Ino."

"You invited Ino, Haku invites himself, and then Zabuza has to come. Normally, so would Iruka, but with the extra lessons, I suppose he'll be absent. But, you have to remember that Jiraiya always just kind of shows up to these anyways." Sasuke spoke with a small sigh. "I'm honestly surprised none of the rest of you get the pattern by now."

"Oh, yeah, I guess that's true."

"That's not even including our most recent additions." Sasuke brought up. "Zaku will probably want to show up as well around half-way through the meal, along with his teammates, one of which will be glad to see us."

"You seem to like…" Naruto tried to find the words. "Already know how this is gonna' go down."

"If you've seen it once," Sasuke uttered, looking up into the sky as if he were an immortal, having watched over this world for generations. "You've seen it a hundred times."

No one spoke for a moment as they processed the boy's words, though it was Naruto who finally broke the silence some five seconds later.

"You ever think you're just… a bit too extra?"

"Shut up."

/-/

Sasuke walked into the Hokage's office with the same degree of respect as the rest of them, which was to say very little, because as much as he'd grown to like Tsunade, she didn't exactly command their respect in the same way Lord Third had.

_Well… _Sasuke thought, sighing as he watched his orange-colored friend prance into the room, waving to Shizune and Tsunade casually. _Not like that ever stopped Naruto._

"Hey granny!" The boy shouted out as he stepped up, placing both his hands on her desk. "How've you been?"

"Oh, you know, alright I suppose." The woman placed her hand atop Naruto's own and, with one fluid motion, launched it off her desk, causing the boy to plummet to the floor below him from lack of balance. "And don't do that again."

"Understood." His friend called from the floor.

"Now, I've called you three here for a few reasons today, but we'll get the least important out of the way first and foremost."

That didn't exactly catch their attention, but when Tsunade sat up in her chair, and Shizune turned back and locked the door behind them, the situation suddenly seemed a lot more serious.

"Sakura Haruno." The woman spoke, and Sasuke's teammate suddenly stood completely at attention. "You encountered two men down in the tunnels that day. They single-handedly eliminated Danzo Shimura in the comfort of his own base, and then walked back out without so much as a single injury."

The girl nodded, and Sasuke was immediately left reeling from the information. He'd known Danzo was dead, but what he hadn't known was exactly how that'd come about. To hear two men had done it, and during the middle of the Leaf's own raid…

"Do we have any information on them?" Sasuke asked Tsunade. "I mean, for them to do something like that, they'd have to be at least S-ranked, right?"

"Yes, and they've been given that ranking in the Bingo Book, along with in our own files. I wanted to get information out of Sakura's own mouth, however." The woman turned towards Sasuke's teammate. "I put off asking you since you were horribly delirious and sleep-deprived, but now that you've rested, I think it's about time we get as much information as we can."

Sakura nodded, showing no signs of hesitation, but Anko stepped forward before the girl could continue.

"I already gave you my report, though." The woman spoke. "As did Shikaku, Homer, and those kids from the sound village. Why do you need Sakura's as well?"

"Because from what I'm told, one of the men spoke directly to her, is that correct?"

Sakura nodded, even if that particular information made Sasuke more than a little nervous to hear.

"Actually, when he was talking with me, he mentioned… more than a few things that I thought Sasuke and Naruto would be interested in hearing as well." The girl swallowed, nervous to speak. "Well, I'll get to that in a second. The first thing is that they said they were members of a group called 'Akatsuki' or something."

Both Naruto and Sasuke's eyes widened, and they turned towards Tsunade, who nodded at them with a conflicted expression.

"The group that consists of Itachi Uchiha, and Kisame Hoshigaki." Tsunade spoke, pressing her hands together and lacing her fingers, looking over the top of her hands with a small, almost worried look in her eye. "So, this group is beginning to move."

"They're the same group Orochimaru was a part of as well." Anko spoke up." Jiraiya mentioned them more than a few times."

Kakashi nodded, confirming that fact.

"So that means they've been around for a decade, maybe more."

Hearing that put some of Itachi's actions these past years, after he'd slaughtered the Uchiha clan, into question. Just what was he trying to accomplish joining an international terrorist group? Was it truly to test his abilities, and if so, since he wasn't the group's leader…

_Does that mean Itachi isn't the strongest member, either!?_

Such a thought was ridiculous. Itachi had been a near prodigious talent among the Uchiha's, their most skilled member in nearly a century, dating back to the warring states period. Surely, there was no one among the Akatsuki who could defeat him.

…Right?

"We can think about all of this at a later date." Tsunade brought them back on track. "Sakura, you said the man you spoke to gave you some interesting information, correct?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Hmm, well, from what I've heard from Anko, it certainly sounds it, but I'd rather hear it from your mouth, if you wouldn't mind."

Sakura gulped, turning back to the two of them.

"He… he mentioned a few things about the Uchiha Massacre."

Sasuke tried not to show any of the emotions that raged through him at those words on his face, attempting to maintain a neutral visage. Unfortunately for him, it seemed that by the way Sakura's face tensed, he'd been less than successful.

"It's ok." He forced himself to calm down, reigning in his feelings on the matter and slaughtering them. "I'll be fine. Tell me."

Sakura nodded, but it was clear she was still quite worried about him, and from the way Naruto stepped closer to him, putting a hand on his back, it was also evident that the boy was feeling much the same.

Normally, he'd have been annoyed by their pity, now, however, he couldn't find the room in himself to care.

"Right, so… first off, Danzo had one of Shisui Uchiha's eyes in his possession."

The name, at first, didn't set off any alarms. He thought that, perhaps, it had been one of the numerous corpses that had been in the Uchiha compound the night of Itachi's rampage, and the man had simple robbed one of them their eyes. It disgusted him, and made him sick to his stomach as he thought that he'd never be able to avenge the pour soul, now that Danzo was dead, but he wasn't sure why Sakura would see the need to–

He put it together about four seconds later.

"Wait… but…" He stepped backwards, confounded. "Itachi was the one who killed Shisui, he said so himself! He told me to do the same thing he'd done, to kill his best friend. He admitted to it!"

"But this Tobi guy, he even showed me Shisui's Sharingan." Sakura looked down at the floor, evidently feeling terrible. "It… It was a Mangekyou Sharingan as well, one of the special ones Itachi and Kakashi have."

That was a blow he hadn't needed. That meant that Shisui himself had had the Mangekyou, and it also answered Itachi's riddle he'd given him that night. If Sasuke had awakened the Mangekyou, then that meant he would've been the third to possess it's power. That second must've been Shisui, so–

He turned back towards Kakashi, eyes wide.

"Kakashi." He spoke with a complete lack of calm. "When did you awaken your Mangekyou!?"

The man shied away initially, not quite able to look him in the eye.

"Bit of a personal story, Sasuke." The man rubbed the back of his neck. "I wish I could find it in myself to-"

"I don't need to know how!" He shouted perhaps a bit too aggressively. "I just need to know when. Was it before Itachi left the village!?"

"It was." Kakashi spoke, pushing his feelings to the side. "It was during the Third Shinobi World War, long before the massacre."

Sasuke's eyes widened, going back into his thoughts, and thinking back to Itachi's words at that time…

_He said living users. _Sasuke realized, his eyes widening just a bit. _He said living users, not all users._

He calmed down ever so slightly… but he couldn't quite shake the feeling that was washing over him…

The feeling that Itachi might not have told him the whole truth that night, all those years ago.

_And maybe__… maybe he was working with Danzo._

"Also, uhm…" Sakura spoke up suddenly. "I don't want to interrupt your thought process, but he … well… he mentioned you, too."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"How so?"

"Well, not directly, but he said something like "You're the one on a team with…" and then cut himself off."

"Yes, he was probably talking about me, then…" Sasuke massaged his chin with one hand. "Though he could've also been talking about Naruto. They were trying to steal him away when Jiraiya jumped in and saved him."

"Well, technically it was Guy who jumped in and saved me." Naruto brought up with a small smile. "But yeah, Jiraiya bought me a lot of time."

"They knew he was a Jinchuuriki, I'm guessing?" Tsunade asked from her desk, looking at the two of them.

"Yeah, they called him that multiple times." Sasuke remembered. "I'd be willing to bet that's why they were after him."

"Yeah they pretty much explained it while Itachi had you in that Genjutsu." Naruto outlined. "Said they were after the Ninetails… though I'll be honest in saying I forgot most of the rest of what they said, out of the fear that I was going to be killed."

"I guess that's fair."

"Unfortunately, until our spies can report back anything to us, that's about all the information on the Akatsuki that we have." Tsunade rubbed her chin with one hand. "Is there anything else you three have to discuss? Or you two, Kakashi, Anko?"

"I've got nothing." Naruto admitted, before seemingly discovering something else he wished to say. "Ooh! How's your… Hema… Hemio…"

"Hemophobia?" Tsunade asked, a small smile on her face. "It's improving. I didn't have some grand "Ah, my fear of blood is gone!" moment or anything, but I guess having more confidence in myself in general is certainly helping me manage it. I'd honestly like to get back to managing the hospital in my off hours."

"Off hours?" Shizune questioned, gripping the other woman's shoulders from behind and squeezing down. "That's an awfully funny phrase for someone who consistently dodges their work to go goof off."

"Er… Shizune?" Tsunade's face seemed to grow red. "That… that kind of hurts-"

"Oh, how strange." The retainer seemed to only grab harder. "Is that better?"

"I'm getting the feeling you're less than happy with me."

"Where would you be getting such a strange feeling from, I wonder?"

Naruto took a step back from the live grenade standing in front of everyone, and Sasuke couldn't help but join him, about to exit the room and head straight to lunch when Tsunade stuck her hand out, stopping them.

"Just a-" She flinched as Shizune finally let go, shooting her a glare that Sasuke couldn't help but think meant "We'll talk more about this later". "Just a moment. Sasuke Uchiha, I have something for you."

His eyebrows rose as he stepped back towards the desk, and the woman reached underneath it. She struggled with something for a moment, knocking over a stack of what looked to be vests that then scattered onto the floor, before she sighed, pinched the bridge of her nose, and placed one of them on top of her desk.

"Here." She spoke to him. "You're a Chuunin now."

He blinked once, then twice, before looking down at the vest below him and realizing, a bit shocked, that the vest was, in fact, a Chuunin's vest.

Naruto walked up next to him, mouth agape as he picked up the plastic-wrapped item, holding it away from himself as if he were near-sighted, and couldn't quite grasp it's majesty from up close.

"WHAT!?" The boy screeched out a second later, looking towards Sasuke with betrayal in his eyes. "Where's mine!?"

Tsunade gave an exasperated sigh.

"I knew you'd act like this." The woman groaned under her breath. "If you must know, Naruto, you didn't get one."

The Jinchuuriki seemed utterly gob smacked, physically recoiling away from the Hokage's desk and taking a few steps backwards.

"H-how!? If Sasuke got one, then surely I should've earned one as well!" Naruto tried to argue. "I beat my opponent too!"

"It wasn't the result, but the path the two of you took that made the Third Hokage make the decisions he did." The Sannin pulled out a stack of paper that, upon Sasuke's analysis, seemed to be notes going over their Exam matchups. Tsunade grabbed a sheet that he realized must've been his and began reading off of it. "Sasuke Uchiha, third round: The Leaf fighter demonstrates a mastery of distance when facing off against what I regard to be a Chuunin Level foe in Kankuro."

Heat came to his cheeks as the woman read out his praises, and even if they had been words from the Third Hokage, it still felt rather nice to be complimented by the often grouchy Tsunade.

"Took not a single hit during the entirety of their match, and dodged multiple point-blank traps fired from his opponent's sleeve. It is possible his opponent was holding back slightly, but Sasuke never let that goad him on or trouble him. He dealt with his opponent with efficiency and poise, demonstrates clear points that would make him a possibility for Chuunin Rank, will need to see future rounds for confirmation."

The woman placed the sheet down and raised an eyebrow at Naruto, and the boy seemed to take that as a challenge, crossing his arms and stepping forward.

"Oh yeah!?" The boy declared. "Fine then, why don't you read out mine! I won, too."

"You're sure?" Tsunade seemed to want to show the boy some mercy, which Sasuke couldn't help but think wasn't a good thing. "I guarantee you it's not as good as-"

"Just do it!"

Tsunade smiled, as if secretly relishing in what she was about to do. Sasuke couldn't quite blame her, because even if Naruto was his best friend, there were still times where he wanted nothing more than to strangle the boy.

"Naruto Uzumaki comes into the round looking decent. He's holding someone with a close-ranged style at mid-range with his Shadow Clones and abusing that range difference to not even have to chance an encounter with her."

Naruto puffed out his chest, evidently feeling quite good about his chances.

"Unfortunately, he shows too much compassion for me to want to give him a chance at Chuunin Rank from this match."

The boy looked like he'd been punched in the stomach, looking up with his eyes wide.

"He constantly tries to help his opponent, lets her recover, and doesn't even defend against what he knows will be a last-ditch effort. He is lucky his body is more sturdy than almost any other ninja, for taking a sixty-four palm attack from a Hyuga is something that even I would never attempt. All in all, the match starts strong, but Naruto Uzumaki is too affected by his feelings to be given the rank of Chuunin at this time."

The young Jinchuuriki visibly deflated, falling on his butt upon the cold stone floor beneath him.

"I did warn you."

"You did." Naruto admitted, smiling despite the Third's comments. "I didn't listen."

"You didn't."

"I should've listened."

"Yes."

Naruto sighed.

"Moving on," Tsunade looked towards Sakura. "Haruno, You were also passed up for promotion to Chuunin. I apologize. Would you like to know why?"

"Nah, that's fine." Sakura held her hands up in mock surrender, a shaky smile on her face. "I don't really want to be picked apart right now. I woke up like… an hour ago."

"Well, if that's all, then I believe you all are dismissed. Kakashi, Mitarashi, continue guiding your students in the right direction."

The two bowed towards the Hokage, before heading towards the door, beckoning them forward as they did.

"Well?" Naruto walked over to him, his arms crossed, and his eyebrows drawn down annoyedly. "Put it on."

He did as the boy commanded, unwrapping the vest and winding his arms through it, and then zipping it up. It felt cumbersome and odd on his body as he did some light stretches.

_It's a bit… awkward._

Still, having more pockets wasn't a bad thing, and the armor it offered certainly wasn't negligible. He'd heard more than a few stories of blades being stopped just before they'd pierce organs by the powerful backing in these vests.

His eyes widened as he realized he'd gone nearly ten minutes without saying a single word, and he turned back towards Tsunade in order to give proper conduct.

"Thank you for this honor, Lord Hokage." He bowed before her, trying to make up for the 10 minutes he'd spent drooling in front of her desk. "I appreciate this acknowledgement of my abilities."

"Hah, no need to thank me. Your duties will only increase as your rank does, so don't think you're just getting a pay increase of something." The woman placed one arm underneath her chin, propping up her head. "You'll likely be tasked with leading teams of Genin on D or C-ranked missions, or even being assigned to other Jonin on C, B, or maybe even A ranked missions."

He nodded at that, finding that he wasn't really all that concerned. He believed in his own skill, even if he wasn't sure about his leadership abilities.

_Still, the only way those skills will improve is if I actually lead people. _A rather unhelpful part of his brain supplied. _Even if that sounds a lot like torture._

"Alright, now get out of my office, all of you."

"Right!"

"Yeah, yeah…" Naruto pouted, before turning back towards her with a slightly aggravated face. "Why couldn't you just give me Chuunin anyways!? Me and Sasuke fought against Kabuto and stuff, and Sakura duked it out with a whole crap ton of Root guys, shouldn't we have earned the rank in the field or something!?"

"Oh, shut up and go eat lunch." The woman fired back. "I considered giving all three of you field promotions, you've certainly earned them, but your less than stellar conduct is making me reconsider."

Naruto paled for a moment, before, with a sudden grace, he bowed before the Fifth Hokage.

"My deepest apologies for how I acted earlier. I'm filled with remorse."

Tsunade actually snorted.

"Yeah, I'm sure you are."

/-/

"Congratulations, Sasuke!"

The Uchiha shrunk in his chair, sat at the back of a massive U-shaped booth, holding up his glass of tomato juice with one hand and trying to hold back the blush on his cheeks. He smiled at everyone, but it came off more than a little sheepish.

Naruto, Sakura, Haku, and Ino had all cheered for him, along with Kakashi and Anko raising their glasses. Hell, even Jiraiya had gotten in on the excitement, though he was fairly sure that was the alcohol talking more than anything.

Zabuza had abstained, though, to be fair, it was Zabuza, and he'd at least given him a nod.

He waited for everyone's eyes to shift away from him and back towards their food to sit up, taking a small sip of his juice and relishing in the complex flavor that filled his mouth. He reached out with his chopsticks and snagged himself a few cuts of beef, shoveling two or three into his mouth to fill himself up. He hadn't eaten breakfast this morning, which he was fairly sure Naruto and Sakura would've gotten on him about had they known.

The Jinchuuriki nudged him with his shoulder, and he turned towards the boy on his left, curious.

"Hey, you seem a bit… weird." Naruto spoke without any tact at all. "You alright?"

"Just a bit anxious." He lied, trying to cover himself. "I've never really liked these social situations and stuff."

"Yeah, trust me, I've met you." Naruto threw his excuse aside. "I mean… it's more than that, isn't it? What's wrong?"

Sasuke couldn't help but smirk slightly. His friend was famous for getting right to the root of how you were feeling, but more than that, he seemed to be able to psychically sense whenever one of his friends was down, swooping in like a hawk to cheer them up.

He'd always appreciated it, even if he pretended he didn't.

"I just feel a bit bad." He admitted, taking a drink of his juice to give himself a moment to formulate his thoughts. "I mean… this was supposed to be Sakura's party, and then I had to go and get promoted to Chuunin. I basically hijacked this whole thing."

Naruto nodded, at the very least understanding where he was coming from. Despite that, he looked towards Sasuke's right, where Sakura was sat engrossed in her own conversation with Ino, in which Anko and Haku were occasionally interspersed.

Naruto pulled him aside so they were just out of earshot of Sakura, though, really, he'd pulled him perhaps half a foot towards him.

"I don't really think she wanted this party to be entirely based around her either, y'know? Pretty sure she just wanted to finally have some time to relax with everyone."

"Hm?"

"I mean, you saw her down in that Root base or whatever, she was like… I don't know how to say it, but she was super relieved to see us and everything. I think she just wanted to chill out, unwind, and have a good time. Honestly, I don't think she wanted this to be some super 'yay me!' party, or anything." Naruto cocked an eyebrow at him. "Do you?"

He always hated it when his friend could point out something so seemingly obvious that he felt like a complete idiot. It really was starting to get annoying, some three and a half years into their friendship.

He couldn't stop the grin on his face, however, even if he'd wanted to.

"I understand." He conceded. "Still doesn't mean I want this party to be about me either!"

"Yeah, well, that's fair, I suppose." Naruto patted him on the shoulder supportively. "Tough luck there, buddy."

"Oi."

"Still…" Naruto suddenly transformed from wise beyond his years back to ceaselessly childish. "I'll never forgive you for getting Chuunin before me."

Now it was his turn to have the upper hand. adopting his best teasing expression, he leaned back slightly, trying to show an air of superiority.

"Well, it's not like they give them out to peasants like you, after all." He placed both of his arms atop the booth cushions, giving a kingly sneer. "And as the greater of the two of us, it was preordained that I receive this rank before you would."

Naruto glared fiercely.

"You're doing that thing again."

"What thing?"

"That thing where you mix in a hard word to sound smart."

"Everyone does that thing." Sasuke commented, smiling victoriously. "You should try it some time."

"Never forgive you…" Naruto muttered under his breath as he stabbed his chopsticks into a few of the beef pieces in front of him. "Neeeever forgive you…"

Sasuke couldn't help but snicker into his hand as the door to the shop opened, and three more figures stepped into the building. Zabuza looked towards the door, apparently less than used to spending the day idling around inside a barbecue joint, and expecting to have some enemies arrive.

He would go disappointed, however, for the figures who stepped in were exactly who Sasuke had been expecting earlier.

"Ah!" Sakura sat up, standing in her spot and waving towards the new arrivals. "Zaku, Kin, Dosu! Over here guys!"

The sound trio were dressed, for once, mostly casually. Kin was wearing a fairly normal looking dress that he'd never seen on her, though it hardly looked brand new. Zaku wore a simple t-shirt and pants, and Dosu…

Well, Dosu was still wearing his armor, but, at the very least, he'd taken off his gauntlet, weird baggy headdress thing, and facial bandages, choosing to go without them for what was a relaxing day on the town.

_I'd like to act surprised. _Sasuke couldn't help but think as the three tried to find room in the booth. _But I'm really not._

"Sorry we just showed up all of a sudden." Zaku let out, rubbing the back of his neck a bit embarrassedly. "But… it seemed like you knew we'd be coming."

"Yeah," Sakura laughed as she spoke, quickly gazing towards Sasuke out of the corner of her eye. "Someone had an idea you might."

In Sasuke's eyes, at least, the party flowed smoothly from there. They chatted, and ate, and drank for quite a few hours, until the sun was already beginning to cast an amber hue on the horizon. Zabuza was the first to try and call it quits, attempting to drag Haku away as the poor boy begged to be able to stay just a bit longer.

Eventually, he relented, allowing Haku and Ino to continue their conversation unimpeded. It was another whole hour before the man was able to pluck the icy child up and out of the restaurant, and only because Ino decided to follow suit and go with them. By that time, the rest of them were feeling the evening's fatigue as well.

"Welp, I don't know about you guys," Anko spoke through a yawn as she stood up. "But I am beat. Feel free to continue on without me, but I'm gonna' head on out."

"Same here." Kakashi agreed, standing up and looking towards the three of them. "I won't tell you three what to do, but keep in mind that the Hokage's going to be assigning us all a lot more missions to pay the damages on Orochimaru's attack, let alone the whole Root clean-up."

"Don't stay up late, we got it." Naruto waved away the man's concerns. "Don't worry, we were going to head out as well."

"Awww, c'moooon!" A very obviously drunk Jiraiya called out to the three of them as they stood and made their way out of the booth. "You should stay a while! You know, there's value in knowing when to relax."

"You do realize you're paying for all that, right?" Anko glared at the dozen steins that sat next to the man's arms. "Actually, you know what, thanks for treating all of us. I was a bit short on money this month anyways."

"Wait, what!?" The man suddenly seemed sober. "But I got invited!"

"You were expected." Kakashi corrected. "Which is wildly different from being invited. Besides, everyone knows the highest-ranking ninja pays for the meal."

Jiraiya seemed stunned, betrayed, and poor all in one single moment. He turned towards them and seemed to see Naruto as a way out of the situation.

"C-c'mon Naruto, you won't abandon your master, will-"

"What won't I do, Jiraiya sensei?"

Perhaps it was the way that Naruto didn't call the man by his usual nickname, or the icy way his voice sounded as he spoke. Perhaps, instead, it was the overwhelmingly pleased look on the boy's face that indicated that Jiraiya wouldn't be winning this, but even still, Sasuke couldn't be sure.

"This is for my froggy wallet, you thief." Naruto said simply as he pushed himself up and, with the air of a wife who'd just found her husband cheating, walked right past Jiraiya without even looking towards him. "Sasuke, Sakura, shall we head out?"

He smirked, a tiny, mischievous thing that only very rarely appeared around the boy before him.

"I think we should." He answered. "Wouldn't want to be up to late, after all."

"W-wait," Jiraiya protested. "Y-you're not seriously going to make me pay for all this-"

"Oh no, of course we wouldn't make you pay for every single meal." Sakura soothed the man's woes, and the Sannin relaxed, letting out a breath of relief, until Sakura stepped out of the booth, a sadistic sort of smile on her face. "Haku paid for his."

Sasuke laughed as they ran out of the restaurant, listening to the wailing cries of a man who'd finally been met with some karma as they dashed into the evening air.

/-/

Naruto was still laughing as they rounded the corner towards Sasuke's apartment, deciding to drop their newly ranked friend off for the night first as they all made their ways back home.

"Seriously though," Sakura spoke up, patting the Uchiha on his backside with a reassuring smile. "Congrats' on making Chuunin."

The boy blushed once more, though Naruto couldn't tell if that was a Sakura exclusive thing, or if he was still feeling those nerves from earlier.

_Eh, not like it matters. _Naruto thought to himself. _They'll probably get themselves sorted out here one of these days._

They bid Sasuke goodnight as they made it to his apartment building and watched as he began trudging up the stairs before they both turned around, deciding to head towards Sakura's house first.

Still, Naruto couldn't hide one particular fact from the girl.

"I'm still hungry."

"How?" Sakura asked, looking absolutely dumbfounded. "How could you possibly still be hungry? You ate like twenty pieces of meat!"

"Don't underestimate my raw ability, Sakura." Naruto responded confidently. "I'm the foremost devourer of food in the Leaf Village."

"I think Anko could give you a run for your money, personally." Sakura contested. "Not to mention Choji, or just the entire Akimichi clan in general."

"Oh?" He joked. "A challenger for my title!? Fool, there is no one in this pesky land who could defeat me!"

The edge of Sakura's lip turned upwards, trying to hold back her amusement.

"What are you, the king of food?"

"Ah ah ah," Naruto wagged his finger at her. "I'm the Hokage of food. Get it right."

Sakura laughed quietly, giggling into her open palm as they walked side by side towards the shopping district.

"Look, all I'm saying is we do one quick trip by Ichiraku, grab a bowl or two, and we're out before we even know it."

Sakura's brows rose, clearly unimpressed.

"Is that a no, then?"

"That's a no."

Naruto pouted, but didn't protest as they continued towards Sakura's place. It wasn't far from there, perhaps only a few more blocks, when the girl spoke once more.

"Hey, Naruto?" The girl voiced out. "About… y'know… Sasuke making Chuunin."

He turned, worried for a moment that Sakura was concerned about her own lack of a rank-up. He reached over to console her, before realizing that the girl beside him was doing exactly the same thing.

"I just wanted to make sure you weren't too down about it," Sakura smiled comfortingly at him. "There'll be another tournament in a few months, and… why are you laughing?"

In truth, it was because he just couldn't help it. Sakura's words were just too similar to the ones he himself had been about to say to her. To hear his own thought process repeated almost word for word…

"Nothing. Just funny to know we're so similar."

Sakura looked confused.

"What does that mean?"

"Like I said, it's nothing." He smirked, knowing that particular comment would likely drive the girl insane. "We're here."

Sakura turned back around to meet with confirmation that they were, in fact, there. Her house stood before them, and Naruto could see the faint light emanating from underneath the doorway. Rather likely, it was Sakura's mother or father making dinner, waiting for her return.

The girl turned towards him, offering out her fist, which he quickly bumped with his own. She walked up the steps and pushed the door open, and Naruto could hear the way her parents called out to her, walking up to her and asking if she was okay, how she was doing, what her hospital stay was like…

_Must be nice._

He made his way back to his own apartment in silence. He was a bit sad he hadn't gotten to see Iruka sensei today, for talking with the man was always great for keeping himself well adjusted. It'd been a bit since they'd spoken as well, what with the immediate business that came from cleaning up not just Orochimaru's attack, but Danzo's rule as well.

He made it back to his building and climbed the set of stairs towards his apartment. When he finally arrived, he placed the key into the lock and turned it, walking inside and flicking on the light switch.

There was no one.

And that never ceased to hurt, just a little bit.

/-/

Having finished her dinner (which had very nearly caused Sakura to vomit), the young girl made her way up the set of stairs and towards her room. Opening the door and shutting it behind her, she looked upon her own bedroom for the first time in over three weeks.

She didn't quite tear up or anything, but she couldn't deny some small rush of emotion as she looked upon her dwellings. Everything was a bit dustier than she'd left it, but other than that, it was exactly the same.

She flopped down upon her bed and marveled at the way the dusty comforter beneath her sprayed particles of the stuff into the air, giggling silently as she tried to avoid getting it in her eyes. She laid there for quite a while, just trying to relax and unwind, finally getting some peace and quiet.

She nodded off after perhaps half an hour, the sleep that had claimed her for almost a week once more overtaking her system, and she was out like a light as the sun set in the sky.

It was late at night when she awoke again, and she knew immediately that something was wrong.

A sharp crash coming from downstairs alerted her to the possibility that someone, or perhaps something, had made it's way into their house. She pushed down on the fear that flooded her system, instantly waking her up, and mentally prepared herself. She got herself out of bed, silently tiptoeing across the carpeted floor as she made her way towards her bedside table. Atop it lay her ninja tools, which she strapped to her waist.

She hadn't taken the time to change into her night clothes when she went to sleep, which helped now. Even wearing a casual outfit, it still had a place for her to clip on the bag. After doing that, she drew a kunai from out of it, and slotted three shuriken into her left hand, using a technique Sasuke had taught both her and Naruto a long time ago to surprise your opponent.

_Don't panic. _Sakura told herself as she stepped to the edge of her room, cracking her door ever so slightly and peering out into the hallway. _It could be Mom or Dad. One of them could've wanted a midnight snack or something. Don't assume everything's going to be ninja related._

Immediately, she made her way towards her parents room, deciding their safety took priority over anything a thief might be stealing from downstairs. Quite frankly, they could have their appliances, or their food if they wanted. She needed to make sure everyone was okay.

She pushed open the door to her parents room while standing parallel to the wall, and charged into it, blade at the ready.

Her parents were still asleep.

She breathed out a sigh of relief, until, a moment later, she realized something was slightly off.

She walked like a crab, keeping her back to the left wall and sidling sideways, making sure she kept the entire room at the very least in her peripherals. She approached her mother first, reaching down with one hand and keeping her back to the wall behind her.

Upon nudging the woman's face, she couldn't quite keep her worry in check when nothing happened. She tried again, this time shoving her shoulder as hard as she could, which should've easily awoken the woman.

Once more, there was no response.

She reached down once more, this time, raising the woman's eyelid to look at her pupils.

They weren't dilated. Despite the fact that both of them were sitting in the dark, and they should've been sleeping, their pupils were tiny, as if they'd been sitting in the sunlight all day.

She took a deep, silent breath, controlling her breathing so that she made no noise.

_It's Genjutsu. _She came up with a hypothesis as she reached down and placed a hand on her mother's body. _Release!_

Nothing happened.

She tried once more, relying on instinct more than anything as the woman's chakra fluctuated briefly, before, just as before, it returned to its altered state.

She breathed deeply, trying to reign in the small bit of panic building in the back of her stomach. She walked over to her father and repeated the steps. As she failed once more, she bit her bottom lip, running through her options in her head as another noise sounded out from the downstairs kitchen, though this one sounded more like a pan clattering to the floor.

_It sounds a lot like the pan mom cooked dinner with. _She sidled along the wall, peeking back into the hallway to make sure nothing was amiss there. _There's no way someone with enough skill to place them both under a powerful enough Genjutsu that I couldn't undo it would be making that many mistakes on accident._

That shifted her theory considerably. Now, it was far more likely that, rather than a clumsy burglar who'd arrived to take their things, this was instead a targeted attack.

_And there's only one thing of note worth attacking in this house… _She swallowed the contents of her mouth, and inadvertently kept herself from throwing up. _I… I need to contact someone, anyone. If I could get a message out… _

She realized a moment later that there was no way she could.

Whoever this person, or people, was, they'd done their homework. They'd snuck their way in, placed her parents under a powerful Genjutsu, and effectively used them as a bartering chip. If she tried to flee, then her parents lives were potentially forfeit. There was no way she would be calling for help, and it was very likely they'd studied her in some way, knowing without a doubt that she had no way of contacting anyone aside from running to them.

She was stuck.

A moment later, she decided that, at the very least, she would face down whoever this was without fear. She passed through her parents door and silently closed it behind her. She placed a kunai from her bag on the doorknob, balancing it so that if someone tried to open it, the weapon would fall to the floor and make a sound. It wouldn't prevent them from attacking her parents, but at the very least, Sakura would know about it.

And with that, she made her way to the stairwell.

She couldn't quite fully muffle her steps onto the wooden stairs, even as much as she tried. Whoever awaited below, they'd know she was coming.

So she might as well surprise them.

She leapt the final seven steps, rolling as she landed at the bottom of the first floor and kicking off of the wall behind her into the kitchen. She activated her curse mark immediately, feeling the familiar strength flow into her system as she brought her weapon to bare.

Immediately, she spotted three people in her peripheral. Each of them looked… rather odd, if she were to go off only her immediate impressions. She turned towards the tallest man in the room, resolving to perhaps kill the strongest of them before they even realized she was here.

The man she was dashing towards barely had time to bring his arms up before she slammed into him, her curse mark only adding to the strength of the blow and sending him flying back into their dining room. The brute impacted against the top of their table, flying right through it and letting out a grunt as he hit the floor.

Sakura decided to push her luck, planting her right foot hard on the ground and pushing off of it, leaping into the air above her and just barely avoiding hitting her head on the ceiling as she reversed her grip on the kunai in her hand, holding it away from her body as she prepared to fall down upon the orange-haired man beneath her.

Her eyes widened as a black symbol raged across his skin, and he blocked her blow with ease. In the moment after that, he forced his arms apart, launching her into the ceiling above her and knocking the wind out of her lungs. She couldn't idle, however, because even as the man recovered, she knew his allies would be closing in on them.

She threw the three shuriken in her left hand and kicked off the roof above her, rolling once more onto the floor and choosing to engage the larger man once more in hand to hand. He repelled her attacks with relative ease, tanking the shuriken with his arm, and returning her blows with far more force than she could muster, even with her curse mark activated.

She spent a moment hotly debating with herself on whether or not she should try and unleash the curse mark further, but quickly clamped down on any arguments. It was obvious that she should release it's strength.

_It won't matter if I didn't let it control me if I'm dead. _Sakura reasoned.

She let the mark flow across her further, and watched as the eyes of the man before her widened as she began to match the power of his blows. She snuck into his guard after one particular hit, and swung her blade across his stomach.

Before her edge could reach, however, It was shot out of her hand by some form of object, one which continued onwards and impacted against the far most wall, embedding itself into the side of the house. Her now harmless strike overextended herself, and she was powerless to stop the orange-haired man from pummeling her into the floor below her.

She coughed up blood, unsure if any of her bones broke on the impact or not. She certainly wasn't feeling much pain, but she had a feeling that was the adrenaline talking.

"Sheesh, what a fucking bitch." A voice spoke out from directly above her, and she recognized the sound of shuriken hitting the floor as the man plucked them out of his forearm, before a hand gripped her wrist and hauled her up. "And to think, we weren't even going to rough you up."

"Hey, I thought it was pretty funny." A feminine voice echoed out from what sounded like the entrance hall. "Watching you get your shit kicked in is never not worth it, in my eyes."

"Oh, go shove it up your ass, Tayuya!"

"I'm sure you'd love that, wouldn't you?"

"Shut it, both of you!" A new voice echoed out as someone stepped towards her, and she turned her head just enough to be able to make out the rest of them.

There were three boys and one girl. One of the guys seemed to possess a second head on his back, whilst another had four arms. The one she'd fought, the orange haired brute, was a bit chubbier, having a large ceremonial rope wrapped around his waist. The girl, for her part, seemed to be the least odd, though she did hold a flute in her right hand.

"W-who are you?" She asked, eager to find that nothing was ruptured, for now that the adrenaline was wearing off, she could tell the pain was a bit lesser than it would've been if she were seriously injured. "Why are you here!?"

"Y'know, most people start with that." The four-armed one spoke out. "Instead of just attacking willy-nilly."

"You broke into my house!"

The boy seemed to consider that.

"Y'know what, that's fair."

"Quiet." The boy with two heads spoke up, walking towards her and pointing to himself with his thumb. "Names Sakon. I'm the leader of this here group."

She wasn't really sure why she should care, but she nodded anyways.

"Right, good. What we're going to do here is pretty simple. You can come with us willingly, or we can knock you the hell out and carry you, your choice."

She swallowed but couldn't quite find any openings in the orange-haired man's hold on her. His grip was like iron, and the black markings running across his skin reminded her of–

_Wait._

She looked closely. The pattern was different, but the way they all emanated from a spot on his neck, the way they covered his left side until a certain point…

"You have a curse mark!"

"Oh, hey, ding ding ding! How right you are." Sakon mocked her, giving the boy with a curse mark a pat on his shoulder. "You're not the only one with a curse mark around here, little lady, though you might be the only person around who's not supposed to have one."

She tried not to show any weakness before them. Whatever they were going to do to her, they'd already decided to do so. She would present a strong front, at least.

"Right, so coming, or coming but worse?"

She swallowed.

"I'll go."

"Good, good. That makes things much easier." The man gave a series of quick hand signals as the rest of them began moving. The chubby one released her, letting her flop onto the ground and massage her aching wrist. "Right, so we've got just one stop to make before we leave the village."

She grew immediately suspicious, but she wasn't sure why. It was as if somewhere, deep down, she already knew, but was still putting the pieces together at the same time.

"Where's that?"

"Where?" The white-haired boy turned back towards her with a small smile. "Why, it's Sasuke Uchiha's place."

Her eyes widened as she connected the dots, and she went to struggle before finding the orange-haired giant had once more grabbed her. She tried to break free of his grip, but her arms, even with the curse marks power, weren't as powerful as his.

"After all, that gift you possess was meant for him." Sakon taunted. "But luckily, Orochimaru discovered that you do have some use. After all, you can utilize the wood style, can you not?"

She bit down on her lip, drawing blood as she tried to kick off of the floor to get an angle of attack.

"Oh, stay still, you brat." The one who chubby had called Tayuya stepped forward, and Sakura immediately saw stars as the woman's fist buried itself in her gut. "We ain't killin' either of you."

She coughed up some spittle as she looked up at the girl before her, who's arrogant smile did nothing for the anger already coursing through her.

"We're just going to use you as a bit of… let's call it leverage."

She could do nothing as the rest of them pushed open the door to her house, and the orange-haired ninja slung her around his shoulder, carrying her like a bag of rice.

"After all, I don't think Sasuke Uchiha will be able to resist coming with us if it's **_your_** life on the line." Tayuya continued. "And then, not only will Orochimaru have the Sharingan, but he'll have the Wood Style too. But hey, look on the bright side…"

The girl smiled derisively, stepping towards Sakura, and pinching her cheek.

"At least you'll finally be useful for once."

**End Chapter 45**

* * *

**Been a bit since I cliff-hangered. Like... one whole chapter, right?**

**Anyways, twin birds, a singular stone, you get the point.**

**See you all next week!**


	46. Chapter 46

**Continuation of last chapter...**

**Without further ado, Winnie-the-Pooh**

* * *

**Chapter 46: Once More Unto the Breach  
**

* * *

The last thing Sasuke had expected at three in the morning was a knock on his door_._

The almost frantic knocks that droned on continuously roused him from sleep, and he couldn't help but immediately grow annoyed. This wasn't the first time a certain someone had come to him in the dead of night, wanting to try some new prank, or train, or goof off for some unknown reason.

He breathed out an angry sigh, trying to let go of those feelings before they could overtake him. There was always the chance that something serious had happened, and he was needed for some reason.

He slung his way out of bed, letting his legs dangle off the edge as he rubbed at his eyes, getting the goop out of them. He stood up after a moment, yawning into his hand as he walked towards his door, but somewhere along the way, he began to slow down.

The knocks on his door were lacking in any of his blonde friends normal exuberance, and he couldn't help but feel there was more than one presence outside as well. Before he placed his hand upon his doorknob, he first doubled back, grabbing his ninja tools off his bedside table and slotting them onto his pants, drawing a kunai and three shuriken out, and slotting them into his right and left hands, respectively.

He also, in a moment of realization, dawned his new Chuunin vest. It might not have been a great amount of protection, but in case he was about to be attacked, he'd take what he could get.

As he made his way back over to the door, he reached out and turned the knob with his right hand, using his pinky to hold the kunai around his finger, and pulled inwards suddenly, trying to disturb whoever was on the other side, and potentially catch them by surprise–

"Sakura!?"

He looked at the girl before him, held up by a rather fat man he didn't know, and flanked by three others, two boys and one girl, who were all smiling insidiously at him. One, a white-haired boy who seemed to have a second head growing out of his back, stepped up first, clearing his throat in an overly-dramatic way that had his teammates laughing under their breaths.

"Hello there, Mr. Uchiha." The man bowed before him, and a flash of anger coursed through Sasuke as the ninja rose once more, and he saw the mocking look on the boy's face. "How are you this evening?"

He gritted his teeth together, his Sharingan spinning into place as he took a step forward. He briefly weighed his chances. If he could make the combat loud enough, then he could receive reinforcements within the next couple of minutes, all he needed to do was buy that much time, and then–

"Ah ah ah," One of the others, the female with red hair and a flute in her left hand, held a knife to Sakura's throat, lightly scoring the girl's skin and drawing a thin stream of blood. "None of that. We have no qualms with killing this one."

He took a step back, but stayed tense, still holding–

"Drop the weapons." The girl spoke again, pointing with her flute to his left and right hands. "Those shuriken and kunai, on the floor." She pushed slightly harder with the knife in her right hand, drawing a small cry out of Sakura's unconscious form that sent a wriggly, white hot feeling of dread down into his stomach. "Now."

Begrudgingly, he followed the girl's orders, letting the weapons clatter against the carpeted floor beneath him. The next moment, the other guy, the white-haired one, came over and picked all four up.

"Wouldn't want any record you were fighting someone getting out." He spoke simply. "No, we're going to disappear nice and easy. By the time they can trace any of this back to Lord Orochimaru, we'll be long gone."

Sasuke bit down on the side of his mouth. At this point, he'd lost. He wasn't afraid to accept that he was going to be taken by the four before him. He couldn't risk Sakura's life like that. On the flip side, he couldn't exactly let these people get away with both of them without a single trace.

"Now, Mr. Uchiha," Two-head spoke, stepping back into their older formation and signaling for him to follow. "You'll be coming with us to meet our most generous sponsor. If you have any complaints, I'm sure he'll be more than willing to field them himself."

He didn't move, couldn't. So far, he'd not been able to do a thing, but it seemed he wouldn't be given an option as, a moment later, the girl from before sighed, and slammed her fist into Sakura's stomach, causing the girl to violently wretch.

His Sharingan blurred, as if screaming at him, but he couldn't do anything except place his hands in the air, showing off his surrender and hoping they'd stop hurting Sakura.

"That's better." Two-heads spoke once more. "Now, come on out, nice and easy."

He nodded towards the white haired one, taking a step towards the entrance and thinking wildly. He needed some way to mark their exit, and not just any way, he needed for someone to be able to pick up on their trail.

And that meant he had to leave one.

/-/

Zaku tensed as pain once more shot up his right arm, biting down on his own shirt inside of his mouth and staring directly at the clock. It wasn't the greatest way to keep his mind off of the pain, but it was as decent as any other idea he'd had, and at some point, he'd simply had to roll with it.

_7:45… 7:46… 7:47…_

The minutes didn't exactly fly by, and it wasn't for lack of trying, either. He would've loved if the woman sitting next to him could've hurried this procedure up, given that he'd been experiencing nothing but pain for the past hour and a half, and it didn't seem like it'd be stopping any time soon.

It was, perhaps, another two hours before the woman finished.

"Whew, alright." The medical ninja let out a loud sigh, evidently rather exhausted with the procedure. "I do believe you're finished. If you'd like to look now, you can. It's all healed up."

He did as suggested, looking down at his right arm and inspecting it.

There was, of course, still the massive scar from when his entire arm had been cut from his body by that bug kid, but now there were also a few smaller scars dotting across the limb, at seemingly random spaces.

"I went ahead and removed the shards of bone that were still caught in your arm." The woman explained, removing the scrunchy that'd been holding her blonde hair back as she smiled at him. "Your whole wind tunnel thing's pretty far beyond working again, but, honestly, kid, you got obscenely lucky. You said that when your arm was removed, it was broken at the time, right?"

He nodded, eliciting a small wince from the woman as she seemingly thought about what that particular experience must've been like.

"Yeah, so, if you'd have been not so lucky, you would've had that break be where your arm was ripped apart, and some of the bone in your arm would've been lost. At that point, there would've have been anything anyone could do for you."

He nodded, trying not to dwell on that.

"Luckily, it seems where your arm got blown off and where your arm was broken were two different spots."

"Yeah, Orochimaru broke my wrist around…" He pointed to around halfway up the limb. "Here," He moved his finger up. "And then I lost the limb around here."

"Sheesh, that's some shitty luck you've got, nearly rivals mine."

He tilted his head.

"I thought you just said I was really lucky?"

"Well, yeah, you're really lucky for a horribly unlucky person." The woman smiled, her cherry red lips gleaming in the morning sunlight. "No one with any real luck would've gone through any of that shit in the first place."

_True. _He admitted to himself. _I've not had the best go of it._

"Now, let me inspect your other arm real quick, just make sure nothing's wrong, and we can get you out of here."

He nodded, reaching up with his right arm, which ached considerably, and placing his shirt in his mouth once more. The cloth was a bit damp from being his makeshift teeth protector, but he'd just have to live with it, he didn't exactly have anything else.

"I'll ask again, you're sure you don't want me to anesthetize you?" The woman looked undeniably pained at having to do this to him. "I know you said you didn't, but you can't think going through all this pain is worth whatever hang-ups you've-"

"Don't trust doctors." He mumbled out past the gag in his mouth, clamping down on it. "Want awareness."

The woman shot him a pitying look, one he hated with every fiber of his being.

"We're not all like Orochimaru, you know."

He wouldn't deny that. So far the woman before him had been nothing but helpful, walking him through the procedures she'd be performing and offering to put him under anesthetic, and even operating on him past when he'd refused the drugs.

He couldn't help it, however. Despite what the woman before him might've thought, Orochimaru had taken some things away from him, likely permanently. One of them was his trust of any form of doctor or surgeon. He'd been put under the last time for a simple cut he'd received in training…

And he'd awoken with two metal tubes running through his arms, ones' he's never asked for.

He zoned out as the woman began to work, and it wasn't long before she patted the arm, having done nothing to it other than look.

"The air tunnel in this arm's gone kaput as well." The woman spoke, setting his limb down in his own lap. "Unfortunately, I don't think we'd be able to repair either of them without literally ripping your arms apart, and with your fear of anesthetic…"

"Yeah." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "They can stay broken. I… I might've built my strategy around them, but that doesn't mean I can't learn to do something different."

The doctor removed her gloves, smiling over at him as she did.

"Mentally freeing yourself from Orochimaru's clutches?"

He smirked at the woman's teasing.

"Certainly something like that." He looked over at the woman, finally curious enough to voice a concern he'd had all day. "By the way, I've been in and out of here all month, well… I wasn't a week or two ago, but up til the Chuunin Exams I was, and… I'm rambling."

The woman snorted.

"Uh, basically, are you new here?" He asked the woman, who, from the looks of things, seemed to be in her late thirties. "Because I kind of figured I'd have the same doctor my whole time here, I'm surprised you were able to fill in for that old guy, given that he must be way more experienced."

He realized quickly how rude that must've sounded, and, trying to develop better habits when interacting with others, Zaku resolved to fix his mistake.

"M-my apologies. I didn't mean for that to come off as bad as it did. W-what I meant was that… well, you look like you're maybe twenty-five, and… well, that old guy was… I… I'm kind of blanking right now, but-"

He was interrupted from making even more of a fool of himself as the woman let out a laugh that sounded almost like honey. She placed a hand in front of her mouth, shaking slightly as she tried to hold herself back.

"Oh, y'know." The woman waived away his concerns, seeming oddly amused about something or another. "Maybe I'm just some hotshot new rookie."

Zaku supposed that made sense, even if it didn't exactly fill him with joy. Despite how nice the woman had been, and how well she'd done overall, he couldn't quite help the feeling that he would've felt safer in the hands of the doctor he'd been seeing all this time. He might not've trusted the man as a person, but he trusted him more than some newbie who must've been fresh out of training.

A moment later, another woman opened the door to their room. She looked slightly younger than the Blonde, perhaps in her late twenties, with dark hair and even darker eyes. She wore a simple purple kimono that complimented her decently well enough, and she stepped into the space with a level of confidence that said she owned the place.

"Ah, there you are!" The black-haired woman exclaimed, walking towards the blonde with a spring in her step. "I'm shocked. You actually did some honest work for a change."

_Who's she? _Zaku wondered, sitting silently on the bed as the doctor who'd operated on him turned in her stool, facing the new entry with an annoyed air. _I… I can't tell if they're friends, or…_

"You say that like I never do anything."

"Which makes sense, given you don't."

"Oi."

"Sorry, that might've been too much."

The blonde flicked some hair out of her face, turning back around to her desk and filling out a small amount of paperwork.

"Well, one of my old pupils called me in, asked if I'd handle a particularly tough case he'd been dealing with, tempted me with money…" She held her hands up in a 'what can you do' gesture. "At that point, I didn't exactly have a choice."

Black-hair nodded, but looked concerned about something.

"And your Hemophobia?"

"It wasn't fun…" Blondy admitted, and Zaku could remember back to the beginning of their session, when the woman had stopped working for a nearly five minutes after she'd cut open a part of his arm. Despite that, she'd later gone back and continued as if nothing had happened, not taking another break until they'd finished. "But I managed it."

The black-haired woman smiled radiantly, reaching down and hugging the blonde, drawing a small blush from the doctor.

"H-hey! None of the touchy-feely!"

"I'm proud of you."

Blondy seemed to shrink into herself a bit at that, but returned the hug a second later, wrapping her arms around Blacky's back and sighing.

"I appreciate it."

Blacky laughed.

_I… I feel like I shouldn't be here. _Zaku couldn't help but think. _Like… like I'm witnessing something oddly intimate._

"Oh, shit, sorry!" Blondy turned back towards her desk, and, after another ten or so seconds of writing, took the form she'd been filling out and handed it to him. "You can bring this to the front desk, they'll schedule you for your next follow-up, should be about two weeks."

"R-right." He nodded, still a bit jazzed from this whole situation. "Will I be seeing you, then, or my old doctor?"

"Really depends." The woman shrugged. "If I'm available, I'll do it. If not, he will."

"Understood."

He slid off of the bed and walked towards the door, but couldn't quite help hearing the remainder of the two women's conversation as he opened it.

"Oh, by the way, Lady Tsunade, did you finish filling out your paperwork at the office today?"

"Ergh, I, uh…"

_Wait…_

Zaku turned back around, eyes slightly wide as he stalked back into the room.

"Hold on!" He shouted perhaps a bit too loud. "W-what did she just say!?"

The blonde woman leaned back on her stool, pouting slightly as she looked towards her partner.

"Aw, Shizune…" The woman groaned out. "You had to go and ruin my fun."

"L-like Sannin Tsunade!?" He pointed to her, and the way the woman's eyes narrowed told of her amusement. "Teammate to Orochimaru Tsunade!?"

"Yes, and yes." The woman acknowledged, putting her hands behind her head and leaning against the desk behind her as she did. "I am all of those things."

"But… you… Hotshot rookie…"

"Well, you went and said I looked twenty-five," The woman practically cooed. "How else was I supposed to react to such a fine, upstanding gentleman? I didn't want to ruin the illusion."

Zaku continued to guffaw wildly at Tsunade for another few seconds before there was a knock on the door behind them. The person behind the repetitive noise didn't bother waiting for any admission, instead pulling the door aside and stepping in without so much as a care in the world.

"Ah!" The newcomer yelled out, and Zaku immediately recognized Naruto as he stepped up to the resident Sannin. "Hey, Granny, have you seen Sasuke and Sakura?"

Zaku inclined his head, interested in what the boy had to say, and eager to use it as a way to avoid any further embarrassment.

"They weren't at home?" Tsunade asked, leaning forward and holding her head up with her hands. "I thought the three of you went out for lunch yesterday. You'd be the one to know where they are, did you all not hang out afterwards?"

"Well, we did, that's the thing." Naruto elucidated, stepping into the space with a worried expression. "I was wondering if maybe you knew where they went this morning. I stopped by both of their houses, well, Sasuke's apartment, but they weren't there, and Sakura's mom and dad said they hadn't seen her since she left for a bit of training this morning."

"Training?" Tsunade seemed perplexed, lightly rubbing her chin with one hand. "Seems an odd time to be training, given she should still be recovering."

"I mean, I only stopped by Sasuke's apartment and knocked, but he's always awake at this hour, and, well, compounded off Sakura not being there… I guess I was just a bit worried."

"Don't feel bad," Tsunade smirked, though there was some small semblance of anxious energy in her voice as well. "I get being a bit paranoid. We're all like that. I'll ask Anko if she's heard from Sakura, meanwhile, why don't you head back to Sasuke's and invite yourself in. If he's there, just be honest with him, I have a feeling he wouldn't mind too much."

Naruto sighed, laughing as he gently rubbed his own cheek, trying to get himself out of his own funk it seemed.

"Thanks, Granny." Naruto looked up at the woman with a smile. "You're right."

"And stop calling me that."

"I make no promises."

"Let me come along."

All the voices in the room turned towards Zaku, who'd been silently waiting for the conversation to finish. Perhaps he was growing overwhelmingly paranoid, but there was some part of him, an almost insignificant piece, that seemed to be screaming that something wasn't right. And if there was only one thing he'd learned on the streets, it was that one trusted their intuition.

"Uh, sure." Naruto scratched the side of his head, seemingly quite confused. "You're Zaku, right?"

He snickered.

"Yeah, I'm Zaku. Good to know I'm so memorable."

"Hey, you're Sakura's friend, not mine!"

/-/

Naruto stepped up to Sasuke's apartments with a different air than he usually did. Often, he came here with the intention of challenging the solitary boy to a training match, or to ask him out to lunch so they could chat.

He didn't usually come here under stress.

"So, eh… Zaku." He turned towards the other boy beside him, a member of the sound trio they'd dealt with multiple times in the past, with no real trust. "Why exactly did you want to come?"

"Had a weird feeling." The boy admitted with what seemed to be honesty, and Naruto couldn't help but nod his head in solidarity as the other boy looked up towards the apartment and bit his lip. "Just… what you said just set some weird alarm bell off in my head, I haven't quite been able to identify exactly what it was, but I'm working on it. Felt like if I saw the scene…"

"You might be able to work something out?"

Zaku nodded as they ascended the flight of stairs to get to Sasuke's room. By the time they made it up, Naruto's nerves were going a bit haywire.

_Calm down. _He told himself, trying to force some of that particular emotion into himself. _It'll be fine. We'll Find Sasuke, we'll laugh about this little misunderstanding, and we'll all grab some ramen later._

By the time they made it to the front door, Naruto couldn't help but knock immediately, hoping to have his prayers answered sooner rather than later. A few seconds went by in relative silence, the birds in a nearby tree calling out, and a bug in a nearby plant seemed to have made it his mission to be as obnoxious as possible.

And yet still, nothing happened.

He took a deep breath as he knocked once more, but was pushed aside by Zaku, who stepped up to the door and knocked far louder.

"Oi, Uchiha, you in there!?" The boy called out, putting his ear up to the door. It was a few seconds later before the sound ninja turned back towards him, perplexed. "He's not there."

A coil of fear blossomed in his chest.

"Then let's check it out." Naruto brought a lockpick from out of his coat, having brought it along for this very reason. "Give me one second."

"Got it."

Zaku stood guard as he began to work. His friends house this may be, but he suspected a random passerby would call the Police force first and ask questions later.

"Got it!" He declared a minute or two later, pushing the door open and standing up, stepping into the space with a small amount of recklessness. "Hey, Sasuke, you in here!?"

The room looked just like it had a few weeks ago when he'd last been here. It was, perhaps, just a tad bit dustier than it should've been, what with the fact that the two of them had been on a mission to retrieve Tsunade for nearly two weeks, but other than that, it was clean and well-kept.

But, just like Zaku had mentioned, its proprietor wasn't present.

"And now…" Zaku stepped into the space, looking around at everything as he flicked on the light. "The question becomes 'Where exactly are those two?'"

Naruto put his hand on his chin and thought for a moment.

_Is it possible that they went out for some like… date thing? _Naruto pondered for a moment, before dismissing the thought. _No, they'd still let me know. It's not like I've liked Sakura for like… four years, they wouldn't hide it from me or something._

And Sakura would've been extremely eager to tell her parents where she was going in that case. At the very least, she might've told–

"Ino!" Naruto shouted suddenly, turning back towards the door, and stepping back onto the balcony. "I can't believe I forgot to ask her!" He took his hands off of the balcony railing and began to walk down the stairs. "I'm sure that's where those two are, and… and if they're not, then she'd know-"

"Hold it." A hand on his shoulder prevented him from going anywhere. "Before you go all 'everything's totally fine, we're overreacting' on me, finish the investigation."

"What?" Naruto turned back to the boy; eyebrows raised. "What do you mean, investigation?"

"You don't smell that?" Zaku turned back towards the room, leading him into it. As they walked in, Naruto focused harder, and did, as the boy said, pick up on a small, subtle scent. "It smells like iron in here."

Naruto nodded, feeling a small core of… something begin to build in his lower abdomen.

"I guess it does seem kind of… metallicky. What's what mean?"

"Could mean a ton of things." Zaku admitted, before turning back towards him, eyes hard. "The worst of which is the smell of blood."

Naruto freaked out for just a moment, before forcing himself to be calm once more.

"Y-you don't think-"

"I don't know." Zaku answered honestly, rubbing the back of his neck and making a clicking noise with his tongue. "Despite that, I've had this weird feeling ever since we walked in, and ever since you told me about what Sakura's parents said… there's just something…"

The boy walked towards the center of the room, getting down on all fours and looking around.

"Off."

Just like Zaku, the moment Sakura's mother and father hadn't known of her whereabouts was the moment he'd become truly worried. It wasn't at all like the girl to not tell her parents anything. Even if she were going to train, she would've given them exact details, or a name, at the very least. Plus, she would've invited along her master, and, from what Naruto had been told by the Hokage, her location was known.

This was starting to seem almost sinister in nature. Sasuke and Sakura, both missing mysteriously, both dropping completely out of contact with everyone. Tsunade had mentioned she'd ask Anko, but…

He couldn't shake the overwhelmingly bad feeling that the woman wouldn't be getting an answer.

"Help me out here." Zaku waved him to the ground, and he did so, getting on his hands and knees and searching the wooden floor beneath them. "We're looking for blood specifically. It's possible that something else was wrong, but if something happened to either of them, then we want to know immediately."

Naruto nodded, agreeing. As he searched, however, he noticed one rather important thing was missing.

"Sasuke's bag." He pointed out, checking one final time under the bed, and finding nothing. "It's gone."

"His weapon bag?" Zaku asked.

"Yeah."

"Hmm… We can't exactly make a blanket statement yet, keep searching, see if anything comes up."

Naruto nodded once more, turning back to his work.

They searched in complete silence, checking around for anything in case it was well hidden. He decided, as he finished up working in the back of the room, that he'd flip up his switch, instead searching the front near the door.

He ran his hand across the dusty floor, kicking up some particles here and there as he worked. It wasn't exactly fun, and he found himself coughing more than once, but it was necessary. If it turned out that something had happened, he was determined to be the first to–

A particular pattern caught his eye a second later, and he inspected it further with a curious eye. He reached down with his hand, trying to swipe at it, and nearly had a heart-attack as he partially wiped it away.

"Zaku!" He shouted, not daring to stand, lest he somehow blow it away. "Come over here! Get me a light or something."

The boy didn't speak, instead, he drew a small object from his bag, and pointed it at the spot on the ground. It illuminated the wooden floor, and Naruto recognized it as a miniature flashlight. The light reflected off of the ground, but that didn't particularly matter.

He could read the message on the floor.

"-CHIMARU." Zaku read the remainder of the message.

"I ran my hand over it on accident." Naruto spoke, looking at where Sasuke had, seemingly, written the word 'OROCHIMARU' into the dust on his floor with his toe, and tried not to vomit. "But… but this is really bad."

"It's almost certain now that something happened last night." Zaku placed a hand on his hip, while another massaged his chin. He bounced his leg up and down, making a quickly repeating noise that would've normally grated on his nerves. Now, however, Naruto had bigger things to worry about. "This message would've been nearly impossible to see with the lights off, so this might've been the only thing he was able to write and get by whoever… or whatever took him." Zaku ground his teeth together. "Took **_them_**."

Naruto closed his eyes, trying, a bit oddly, to cancel out the energy his brain would normally spend on his sight, and trying to channel it all to his nose. He wasn't sure if it was all that successful, but he was able to pinpoint the epicenter of the smell, and walked over towards it.

It came from the doorframe. There, at the very bottom of the wooden frame, was the very tip of a screw that stood out at an odd angle.

And it was coated in a very small amount of blood.

Off the top of his head, it wasn't like he actually knew whose blood this was. He reached down, and was about to wipe it off with his finger, before Zaku grabbed his wrist hard, nearly causing him to fall over.

"Don't disturb it!" He exclaimed. "We have evidence now. We take this to the Hokage, and we get her to launch an actual investigation." Zaku placed a hand on his shoulder, looking away awkwardly. "Look man… I get it, you're worried about your friends. But don't let that prevent them from being found! Our job ends here! We go and report this, got it!"

Naruto gritted his teeth together, his stubbornness briefly warring with his concern for his friends, but the emotion was utterly annihilated. He stood up a moment later, nodding to the boy beside him.

"Right."

They exited the room, and Naruto couldn't help but think rather deeply about some of the things they'd found inside the room. The message was obvious, Sasuke had realized there was nothing he could do, and decided to leave behind as much information as he could, but the blood…

The blood was less so obvious.

_Maybe it was an accident? _Naruto wondered honestly, trying to ponder why the boy would've wanted to cut himself. _I mean… it was the middle of the night, it's not like he would've been able to see–_

The answer smacked him in the face like a ton of bricks.

He stopped in place on the stairs, beginning to examine every single step carefully. Zaku looked at him like he was crazy, but he ignored the boy, checking each and every inch of the stone until, finally, he found what he was looking for.

A single dollop of blood on the stairs below.

"It's a freakin' trail!" Naruto shouted to the boy just behind him as Zaku scaled the steps as well, looking at the small stain on the stone below. "He left us a trail!"

"But… that cut wasn't anywhere near big enough to have been useful for a longer trail." Zaku once more massaged his chin as they scaled down more steps, spotting another droplet a few floors down. "Hell, I'd be surprised if that wound wasn't already starting to scab by the time they made it to the edge of the village."

"That's true…" Naruto pondered that for a moment.

"Plus, it's not like Kin, Dosu and I don't know where quite a few of that guys bases are. We know which direction to be going. Why would he need to make a trail to a place we already have the location of?"

Naruto couldn't answer, and it seemed Zaku realized that, sighing a second later, and gesturing with his head for them to keep going.

"Seriously though, let's tell Tsunade and prepare ourselves." Zaku tensed suddenly, taking a deep breath. "I get the weird feeling we probably aren't getting much of a break."

Naruto laughed a bit bleakly.

"You too, huh?"

/-/

"And you're sure?"

Naruto nodded, trying to convey his absolute sincerity with his expression. From the looks of things. Tsunade had taken him at his word, rubbing her temples as she thought about their next course of action.

"Shit." The woman sighed out, leaning back in her chair, and gazing up at the ceiling. "We've already got so much garbage to be dealing with, and now this, too?"

"Uhm… Granny?"

Tsunade looked back towards him with a guilty expression, letting out an exhausted sigh as she averted her gaze, staring down the desk in front of her instead.

"Naruto… we…" The woman groaned loudly, rubbing her hand across her forehead. "We just don't have the resources to mount a rescue operation with so little information."

His eyes widened as the woman looked up towards him, pain lingering behind her eyes, clearly not wanting to have had to say what she did.

"I don't care."

And then, suddenly, the woman's eyes were wider than he'd ever seen them, like great big saucers as she attempted to process what he'd said.

"What?"

"I said I don't care." He declared firmly, walking up and placing both of his hands upon the desk in front of him. "I'll do it by myself! All I ask is you get someone who can track where they left the village from, and I'll take it from there!"

Tsunade opened her mouth, presumably to respond to his ridiculous outburst, but shut it a second later, smiling sadly as she looked towards Shizune, who'd been stood silently behind her the entire time.

"Advice, please."

"…You do have resources you aren't using; you know." Shizune said, pointing over at Zaku and making an odd hand gesture. "They're not the only ones either, and I think they'd be totally cool with going along."

Tsunade let out a worldly sigh as she put her head down on the table.

"Those two old-bats would flay me alive if that went south."

"Yes, but you'd still have done the right thing."

The Hokage's head impacted against the desk beneath her.

"Uuuuugh…"

Naruto looked back and forth between the two of them, confused as to what they were talking about. A second later, Tsunade snapped her fingers, and two Anbu, both dressed in the traditional garb of their group, flickered into existence beside both he and Zaku.

He jumped minutely, but the two didn't seem to care.

"You called, Lady Hokage?"

"Yes…" The woman let out another titanic sigh, before, seemingly finding her resolve, she looked the both of them in the eye. "Go get Zabuza Momochi and his son, along with the remainder of Zaku Abumi's team."

"What should I tell them, ma'am?"

"Tell them…" The woman's eyes glinted in the midday sun. "I have a mission for them."

/-/

Naruto stood silently as the people who'd been called up filed into the room one by one. First had been Zabuza and Haku, followed a few minutes later by Dosu. Kin had strolled in perhaps a minute after that, looking a bit perturbed.

"Uhm… ma'am?" The female sound ninja asked. "What exactly is it we're here for?"

"A mission." Tsunade summed up very briefly, before going back to the forms on her desk which she seemed to be agonizing over. "I'll be with you in a moment."

"Er… OK."

Naruto turned and looked at the group of people surrounding him. He noticed almost immediately the through line for all of them, which was that none of them were officially Leaf Ninja…

And the more he thought about that, the more Granny's plan began to make some sense.

"Right." She pushed the formed in front of the desk, of which there were four. "Zabuza's already been given one of these, so I'll spare explaining it to him…"

The man in question let out a quiet affirmation.

"But for the rest of you…" Tsunade stuck her hands out, as if trying to hug all of them. "These forms are for officially accepting you into the Leaf Village, and allowing you to undertake missions as Leaf Ninja."

Zaku, Kin, and Haku looked up at the Hokage with wide eyes, evidently not having expected this. Haku had already begun to start filling the paper out when Dosu, ever the pessimist, held his hand up slightly, as if waiting to be called on.

"What is it?" Tsunade turned towards him. "Did you have a question?"

"Yes, actually." The sound ninja's single exposed eye narrowed, clearly not as trusting as his counterparts. "Why give this to us now?"

"Because I felt you'd earned the right, of course." Tsunade waived away his concern with her hand. "You fought alongside numerous other Leaf Ninja during the Root invasion, and brought us key information that protected us against Orochimaru, I don't see why we wouldn't-"

"But why now?"

Tsunade's eyes narrowed, seemingly caught by the boy's words. Haku, who'd already made it halfway down the form, stopped writing, instead looking up towards the Hokage with a curious expression.

"Because right now, you five are the only untapped resources in the Leaf Village, and this is the only way I can give you five the mission I have planned for you." Tsunade admitted, standing up and placing her hands on her desk, leaning on them.

"Last night, Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha were, we suspect, kidnapped by agents of Orochimaru."

Everyone but he and Zaku reacted at that, Haku especially seemed almost devastated as he stood up suddenly and looked towards Naruto.

"H-how's Ino taking it?"

Zabuza ran a hand down his face, before trying to steer the conversation back on topic.

"Alright, I was a Jonin of the Leaf as of two weeks ago, but you hadn't sent me out on any missions yet." The man seemed to take that oddly personally. "Why?"

"Simply put, because of the pressure the council of the Leaf's been putting on me." The woman admitted, groaning from seemingly just thinking about them. "Not trusting enemy ninja who've infiltrated the village, not falling for your tricks, not believing the lies of enemy ninja, not doing blah blah blah blah blah!" Tsunade sounded legitimately angry. "They just don't shut up!"

"Right, so you're opting to use me in a rescue operation?" Zabuza tilted his head to the side. "You do know my specialization is assassination, right?"

"Yes, well, I'm sure you can manage rescue just as easily. After all, you're one of the seven swords of the mist, are you not?"

Zabuza gave a mirthful grunt, apparently finding some amusement in the woman's words.

"I suppose I am. Not like I could turn this down, anyways, my brat would nag me to the ends of the earth."

Haku bristled slightly at that but didn't deny the man's claim.

"So, I guess the two of us are in." Zabuza looked over at Naruto and smirked. "You should be grateful."

Naruto nodded, bowing before the man and, apparently, stunning him.

"Thank you for your assistance."

Zabuza seemed to try and find the words he was looking for, but let out a breath that, given enough time, could've perhaps been construed as a laugh.

"Don't mention it."

"I'm going." Zaku said simply, reaching down and finishing the rest of the writing on the sheet below him. "I don't much care about being a Leaf Ninja or whatever, but I'll do whatever it takes to go along."

Dosu let out a dry laugh.

"Someone's got a crush."

Zaku's face lit up red, and Naruto couldn't help but smirk sadly at that.

_I don't know if he's got much of a chance… But I wish him luck._

"Eh, I guess I'll go as well." Kin signed her name at the bottom, pushing the form forward and in front of the Hokage. "Got nothing better to do with my time."

Tsunade smirked as Dosu let out a deep sigh.

"You guys do realize I'm the leader of this team, right?"

"Why, are you going to stop us?" Kin smirked at him. "Cause it doesn't seem like it."

"No… I'm not." Dosu sighed as he walked up to the desk and signed his name as well, passing it forward. "We'll go as well."

A giant smile formed on Naruto's face as he looked at his collaborators. Misfits the lot of them, but he couldn't deny he felt an odd sense of trust already beginning to form in it's members.

And then the door behind them practically exploded open as another figure entered the room, panting as her hands fell to her hips, and she shot the Hokage an angry look.

"SO!" Anko shouted, standing up to her full height and crossing her arms. "Just planning on… what, sending me off on a mission, and never actually informing me that my **student **had been fucking kidnapped!?"

Naruto took a step back from the woman as she forced her way past them, slamming her hands down on the Hokage's desk and glaring at the woman opposite her. Tsunade placed her hands in front of her mouth, in an effort to give nothing away.

"You weren't informed because I knew you'd do something like this if you were." The woman spoke as calmly as she could manage. "At least Kakashi could see reason, We simply don't have the resources to allow any of our higher-leveled Jonin to be taking on a high risk and potentially lengthy rescue operation."

"You think I give a shit about resource allocation!?"

"No, and once more, that is why you weren't informed." Tsunade stood, looking down on the woman with a hard gaze. "You have a mission, Anko, one you were specially chosen for. I would ask you complete it before asking to be assigned to-"

"I forfeit that mission."

"Wha-"

"I forfeit that mission and request to be moved to the mission to rescue Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha." Anko explained, eyes narrow as she continued. "I will complete double the regular allotment of missions when I return to make up for my misconduct, but I implore you…"

Anko bowed more deeply than anyone Naruto had ever seen.

"Please. She's… She's the only person I've ever really cared about at all." Anko spoke under her breath. "Don't deny me this."

Tsunade's eyes widened, and she opened her mouth to speak, but chose not to. A second later, after gazing at the woman's bowed back, she leaned back in her chair again, looking towards Shizune and, silently, asked her for advice.

Her retainer simply nodded.

"Alright… fine." Tsunade let out in a single breath, and Anko immediately shot up, a hopeful glint in her eye. "You're in."

Anko let out a horrid gasp, filled with relief as she bowed once more.

"Thank you!"

"Sheesh…" Tsunade rubbed her hand against the back of her neck, sighing dramatically. "No one's listening to a word I say today."

"I think that probably has to do with the people in question, Lady Tsunade." Shizune smiled at her, and the Hokage returned it with a shake of her head. "They've got a hell of a lot of people looking out for them."

"I guess you're probably right."

"I usually am."

Tsunade turned back around, rolling her eyes playfully as she looked towards the seven of them. Naruto, in a fit of feeling inadequate, tried to stand a little taller, just so it wasn't as obvious that he was clearly the shortest of all of them.

"Alright. Zabuza Momochi."

"Yes, ma'am?" The swordsman spoke, evidently going along with the proceedings.

"You are the captain of this mission. Prove you're able to lead a squadron to victory, and we'll see about getting you out for missions within the month."

"Understood."

"Anko Mitarashi, you'll be second in command, Naruto Uzumaki, you're third."

He bristled slightly at that, having expected practically anyone else in the group to be given that title. Despite his mind's complaints, however, he didn't voice any of them. He'd take the honor that granny had given him.

"Your missions is to track the missing ninjas Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno, retrieve them from whatever situation they've gotten themselves into, and return them to the Leaf Village. Any other objectives are unnecessary, including going after Orochimaru himself, even if the perfect opportunity were to present itself. This is a search and rescue, nothing more."

Zabuza nodded, as did Anko. Naruto wasn't sure if he had to, but he did so anyways. Judging by Tsunade's smirk, he hadn't needed to, but she'd expected him to anyways.

"You'll meet up with Kiba Inuzuka in front of Sasuke Uchiha's apartment. He'll be accompanying you all on this mission as well. From there, you'll follow the trail of blood the boy left behind, as well as their scent if you can pick up on it." The woman waved her hand horizontally, effectively dismissing them.

"Go, and good luck to you all."

/-/

Naruto squinted down at the black spot on the gravel below them, which, according to Kiba's dog Akamaru, was a droplet of blood that had come from Sasuke.

"The trail continues this way into the forest for at least fifteen miles." Kiba explained, before turning to the sound trio with a questioning glance. "So, you three were all under Orochimaru at one point, right?"

"Yeah, for quite a while." Zaku looked unusually pensive, as if considering something he hadn't previously thought was possible. "I'm taking it you're asking for our opinion as to where they're going?"

"Yeah. you got any idea?"

Zaku, Kin, and Dosu all turned towards one another, sharing the same odd look from before.

"Yeah… we've got some idea of where they're going, it's just…" Zaku hesitated, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "Well, that'd be why he left the trail."

"It just doesn't seem to be where we expected." Dosu continued from where his teammate had gone off topic, looking towards the rest of the group. "For reference, we'd expect them to be headed out the front of the village, then going northwest… but from what it seems like here, they've pretty much just gone straight north."

"Is that terribly unusual?" Zabuza broke his way into the conversation. "They could've simply decided to go a different route, maybe to throw you three off their trail."

"That's possible, sure." Kin voiced her concerns this time. "It's just… there is another location, straight in line with this direction. One which wouldn't be terribly odd… just… a bit worrisome."

Naruto tilted his head.

"Worrisome?" He asked the three. "What do you mean by that?"

"We mean it's directly in line not with one of Orochimaru's usual bases… but with his main facility." Zaku rubbed his arm, as if trying to massage out some kind of horrible ache. "We think he might've retreated to the Sound Village itself."

Anko's eyes widened, as did Zabuza's. He, Kiba, and Haku reacted, but theirs were certainly more subdued. Naruto, for his part, didn't see why such a thing would be a terribly big deal.

"So what?" He asked, looking towards the rest of the group. "Why's that huge news? We just need to break in, get Sakura and Sasuke, and head on back."

"The problem is it's not that simple." Dosu spoke, ridiculing him. "Sure, It would've been if we were headed for one of his underground bases. Hell, even the most major of the those bases the three of us still know like the backs of our hands…"

"Do you not know the sound village as well?" Haku voiced up this time, curious. "The three of you grew up there, did you not?"

"And you probably grew up in or around the Mist Village, right?" Dosu countered. "But tell me, if you were taken there again, could you, off the top of your head, list off every suspicious person, place, and thing from memory, or know precisely where an evil overlord was planning on hiding inside of it?"

Haku went silent at that, seemingly rather cowed.

"The problem isn't that we don't know it. We did grow up there, but… it's not like we could guide you through every square inch of it like we could one of the bases."

"Yeah, I for one really only know the backstreets." Zaku admitted. "I mean, that was the only place us street rats were permitted, and only because they didn't know we were there."

"Same here." Kin spoke up, face glum. "If he were hiding in one of the more well-off districts, You'd all have about as good of a chance at finding him as us two. Honestly, I think that goes for Dosu as well. It's not going to be a quick and easy insertion if we're headed to Oto."

Everyone seemed to contemplate that for a moment, except for Anko, whose eyes were quickly traveling back and forth across the ground below her, as if she were doing some odd calculation in her head.

"Hold up." She finally brought up, all eyes turning towards her. "If I'm right, then Orochimaru doesn't really drop by the Sound Village that often, correct?"

Zaku, Kin and Dosu turned to look at one another, before shaking their heads.

"He has a base a ways out from the Village, but that was often as close as he got to it. He'd send people to go collect food and things like that, but aside from those trips, we were usually isolated."

Anko made a noise of acknowledgement.

"In that case, why would he suddenly move from his normal base… and into what I can only imagine is a staggeringly larger operation? Is there any advantage for him to do something like that?"

"Yeah, like we just discussed, his ability to blend in is going to go up by a lot, as are his defenses, since he'll be surrounded by Sound Ninja." Dosu brought up. "Problem is, it also means he's going to lose almost all of the projects he'd been working on, along with any of the prisoner's at his old facility, he wouldn't have time to move them, or, likely, care enough to."

"I'm just worried about how weird this all is." Zaku voiced his concerns as he turned towards his teammates. "It's not much like Orochimaru at all."

"Yeah..." Kin let out a breath. "Same here."

"I think I get the point you're trying to make." Anko summarized, eyes hard as she turned towards the forests beyond the village.

"What could scare Orochimaru enough for him to abandon one of his bases and run?"

/-/

"Still, to think we're headed back to the Sound Village…" The boy named Sakon spoke up, turning towards his group as they jumped through the forests surrounding them. "What do you think's got Orochimaru so spooked?"

"I'd watch what you say, Sakon." The girl named Tayuya threatened, jumping off of a branch and traveling beside the white-haired boy. "If Orochimaru heard you say something like that-"

"I'd be mincemeat." The boy smirked. "I'm aware. I asked you all a question, though."

Tayuya groaned, falling back into their normal formation. Two in front of the group, the prisoners in the middle, and then another two behind, it seemed.

"Well, we know it ain't the Leaf Village." Another boy, this one with four arms and a mischievous grin, spoke out. "They've got too much shit to deal with in the first place to threaten him over some little kiddies, and he wasn't afraid to invade them and attack the Hokage himself."

"Yeah, that's what I'm saying." Sakon sighed, looking deeper into the forest as he tried to rationalize what he was feeling. Apparently, after a good few seconds, he ran out of patience. "Oi, you two!" He turned back towards Sasuke and Sakura. "You got any idea what's going on?"

Sasuke Uchiha looked up, his eyes immediately scanning the formation, observing to see if any of them would let their guards down. Upon realizing that none had, he sighed out, and answered the other boy's question.

"I've got no idea."

The group of six passed by underneath them, and one of the two shadows standing in the tree tops let out a quiet laugh.

"Oho, how funny!" The jolly voice called out, looking back towards his partner. Well, perhaps partners was the better word, given that he was technically two different entity's split down the middle.

"To think Mr. Uchiha…" Tobi spoke softly, gazing towards where the six children hurried into Orochimaru's walls.

"Would lie."

**End Chapter 46**

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**Heyo.**

**Welp, Coronavirus is sweeping the... *checks notes* entire world, apparently, so I'm no longer going on a trip next week.**

**Still going to take the week off, though, because my wrists have really been hurting lately, and I'm not trying to get early onset carpel tunnel. I like this story, but I don't like it enough to get a life-altering condition!**

**Anyways, we got some good stuff coming up, so I hope you all stick around!**

**See you in two weeks!**


	47. Chapter 47

**Heyo!**

**Much shorter chapter this week, because my I'm choosing my wrist's and hand's health over this story. More info after, but basically, this story will be getting much smaller updates on the weekly, just so I'm not getting a condition, since that would suck.**

* * *

**Chapter 47: The Village Hidden by Sound  
**

* * *

The long stretch of time that had hung in between leaving the Leaf Village and arriving in the outskirts of Sound territory had been a bit different than Naruto was used to.

First of all, unlike almost every other mission Naruto had been on, there had been almost no conversation the entire way. Apparently, everyone was a bit too caught up in making sure this mission succeeded to speak. That, at least, Naruto could understand.

The less understandable part had been the communication through hand signals.

He sort of understood most of them, after all, Sasuke had drilled a few of them into him on their missions with Kakashi at the start of their lives as Genin, and a good few of them were rather self-explanatory, but that didn't mean he knew all of them, and certainly not half of the crap Zabuza was throwing out all willy-nilly.

Unfortunately for him, everyone else seemed to have taken an advanced course on the stuff, because they kept up just fine.

"Uh… Haku?" He asked the boy jumping alongside from branch to branch beside him, watching as he turned curiously. "About that one… what's that mean?"

Haku observed the motion Zabuza had made for about half a second, before turning back to him.

"That's a simple distance tracker." Haku explained. "Do you notice the way Master Zabuza is holding up two fingers?"

"Er… sure?"

"Well, the way he's positioned his hand at the top of it's arc means we're dealing in kilometers, and then the way he's holding up two of his fingers, which means we've got two kilometers to the target."

Naruto nodded, getting this one fairly easily.

"If his hand were at an angle, it would then be meters, and if it were held all the way out at his side, we'd be talking centimeters, though, obviously, that last one is much rarer."

"Ok… I think I get it."

"Well done, Naruto." Haku nodded supportively, patting him on the shoulder.

They traveled for a while longer, and Naruto became a bit numb to the scenery as he hopped past his eleven-thousandth tree. Without any real warning, Haku pushed Naruto's head down, manually lowering it so that his face didn't come into contact with an obnoxiously placed tree branch.

"By the way, the signal Master Zabuza just made was for an obstacle in the path."

"G-got it!"

Naruto sighed as he fell back into formation. It wouldn't be long now until they reached the Sound Village, and at that point, pretty much everyone there would be a potential threat. He'd already been informed by Zabuza that he'd need to either put something over his orange jumpsuit, or put something else on…

He'd decided on the former, wearing a simple beige overcoat over his normal outfit. It was a bit restricting, but he didn't particularly mind it. It was better than having to get used to an entirely new outfit on a super important mission, which would've definitely messed up his balance and throwing of tools.

Zabuza held up another hand signal, and judging from the way nothing had changed, except for the fingers being held up dropping from a two to a one, Naruto had a pretty decent idea of what was about to happen.

"Well, welcome to our humble abode, I guess." Zaku spoke up just a few minutes later, laughing to himself a bit sadly. "It's a bit of a shithole, but… this is where we grew up."

Naruto could already sort of see what Zaku was getting at. The entrance to the sound village was an archway that, much like the Leaf's, was probably meant to greet those entering into the space. The real problem lie in how it was tattered and ruined, the sign atop it literally rotting off, hanging on by a single nail.

Despite the impression, there was no denying that this was their destination.

They stepped inside the village and began to walk, following what Naruto could only assume was Akamaru's nose as the dog trudged along front of them all, occasionally turning around and barking towards Kiba, who would nod or shake his head, seemingly understanding and conversing with the tiny animal.

They followed that pattern for quite a while, and every second seemed to make it more obvious to Naruto the kind of place the Sound Village was. It was, through brief observation, a little like the town he, Sasuke, and Jiraiya had stopped in when they'd found Tsunade. Vendors lined the streets, as did paupers begging for coin, and children playing with a ball they all kicked around. The difference, however, lied in their eyes. The salespersons outlooks seemed bleak, not shouting at them as they went by, but averting their eyes. The pauper quieted down as they approached, and the children didn't get in their way. In fact, they picked up the ball they'd been using and moved out of their path, standing on the sides of the road and staring at the ground.

He wasn't sure why that would be, at first, but a second later, he caught something out of the edge of his hearing.

"...Ninjas."

He turned to look, and when he did, the person who'd spoken, a middle-aged woman with an average complexion, went about as white as a sheet, shaking her head as if she were fearful for her life, and stepping backwards. She bowed her head, as if apologizing severely.

"Uhm..." Naruto spoke under his breath, trying to figure out what he should say to the woman. "You're fine, it's no big-"

He was stopped from saying anything more by Zabuza grabbing him by the back of his neck, and practically hauling him off into an alleyway nearby.

The rest of the group had, seemingly, gone ahead. Naruto wasn't sure why he was being singled out right now, but he wasn't going to scream about it, not to Zabuza of all people.

"Don't speak to anyone, kid." The assassin in question didn't seem all that mad, despite the impression he'd given off earlier. "You'll stand out by being nice or accommodating."

"Huh?" He questioned, tilting his head slightly. "Why would I stand out?"

"You've gotta' remember that this is Orochimaru's village, kid." Zabuza spoke, with a small familiarity to his gaze as he looked out towards the street. It wasn't the pleasant kind. "I encountered this back in the Mist Village, when Yagura ruled over the place. It was a ninja village in all respects. Run by ninjas, paid for by ninjas, policed by ninjas..."

He looked out towards the street, where the woman from earlier, still looking panicked, grabbed a small boy, presumably her son, off of the street, and ran inside of a nearby home.

"And controlled by ninjas." Zabuza let out a long breath. "You say something wrong to a ninja, more specifically, to someone under Orochimaru's orders, and y'know what happens?"

Naruto gulped.

"Nothing good."

"Nothing good." Zabuza nodded. "And guess who gets sent to investigate that little incident?"

Naruto could see where this was going now.

"A... A ninja."

"Yeah, and let me tell you, they're unlikely to find anything wrong with a colleagues conduct." The older man sighed, and Naruto could almost hear in his voice the way this reminded him of his older life. "Never had a problem with it myself, especially given my reputation. I didn't much care for anything outside of fighting, but there are always people willing to... abuse their stations." Zabuza grimaced, before turning back towards him. "These people are deathly afraid of provoking us in any way. Just... pretend you couldn't give a shit about any of them, got it?"

Naruto wasn't happy about it, and from the way the older man looked at him, he could tell. Still, Naruto had a job to do, and people to look after, he wasn't about to jeopardize it for something like being nice...

Even if he wanted to.

"I got it." He looked up. "I won't be actively rude to them, but-"

"I won't ask you to be." Zabuza confirmed, standing up and pointing back outside the alley. "C'mon, we're moving."

They walked for a while through the shoddy looking streets. Eventually, upon entering a large square filled with people, They found the rest of their group. Naruto noticed Akamaru sniffing more incessantly at the ground, before, with a small whimper, he sat down, apparently finished.

"He was picking up on their scents." Kiba recapped for them in particular, looking down at the ground with a scowl. "Unfortunately, they end here. Akamaru's not the most adept at this, since he hasn't completed his training, and with the massive crowd…"

Naruto looked towards where the Genin was pointing. Just inside the entrance to the square, and collecting in and around it, were perhaps one or two hundred people of all different sorts, wandering around a central area and, seemingly, shopping around.

"It's a bazaar." Dosu explained. "It's one of a few, but this one's the largest. People come from all over to buy and sell their wares, and where they're passive elsewhere, here, they haggle with the best of them."

"They might've led them through this to mix and ruin the scent." Kin theorized, clicking her tongue on the roof of her mouth. "Unfortunately, given that their scents are already a day old, that probably doesn't help with picking up on it."

"Yeah." Kiba confirmed, stepping forwards and picking Akamaru back up. "If Kuromaru were here, he might be able to guide us through this…"

"Where's he at?" Naruto asked, stepping next to Kiba and beginning to softly pet the boy's dog. "Was he busy, or?"

"Him and mom got a pretty high-ranked mission." Kiba explained, and Naruto could understand almost immediately that that was what Anko was supposed to be doing. "Pretty much all Jonin are out on high-profile A ranked missions right now, trying to earn the Leaf enough money to pay off its damages."

"Well, I guess there's nothing to do, then." Zaku sighed. "Orochimaru's got more than a few bases around here, so we'll just need to start searching them one by one."

Naruto nodded, before turning to look back towards their group. It sucked, but if that was their only option…

He tried to think of an idea, of anything he could do to somehow turn this in their favor…

And, perhaps a bit surprisingly, an idea actually did come to him.

"Hey, Kiba?" He turned towards the boy. "Can you ask Akamaru to look for a specific smell?"

The boy tilted his head to the side slightly, seemingly a bit confused.

"Well, yeah, sure, but he normally would've picked up on anything that he was going to already."

"That's fine." Naruto assured him. "Let's walk around the inside of the village a bit more…" He turned towards Zaku, Kin, and Dosu. "Can you guys lead us to where the entrances to his base are?"

"We were planning on doing that already." Zaku confirmed. "So… yeah."

"Then lead the way."

The sound trio nodded, and their group set off. Naruto was initially surprised at how much the Jonin seemed not to mind them coming up with ideas and making plans, and, when he asked that particular question to them, shockingly enough, it was Zabuza who responded.

"Kid, every single ninja present here shows me some good potential." The assassin spoke. "I've no problems trusting in intuition, especially not when I think the idea is sound to begin with. If you'd said some stupid shit, I'd have let you know. Until you do, however, you're good to keep rattling off plans."

He nodded, appreciating the man's willingness to put his faith in them.

They wandered for perhaps an hour and a half as Zaku, Kin and Dosu led them to and from different entrances to Orochimaru's many hideouts in the Sound. Naruto had, perhaps a bit naively, expected their to only be four or five.

They were passing the twentieth hidden passageway when Akamaru caught onto what he'd been hoping for.

The puppies tiny yips had Kiba kneeling down, seemingly inspecting the place where the young canine was circling around. He seemed to find something, reaching down and touching it with his finger.

"It's a droplet of blood." Kiba spoke, smirking as he looked back towards Naruto. "Specifically, it's blood belonging to Sasuke Uchiha."

He gave a victorious laugh as the rest of their group looked towards him, impressed.

"I thought what he'd done earlier might've been a hint!" He explained his thought process excitedly. "When he left that blood trail earlier, like you said, it was a bit pointless aside from pointing us in a direction. Even then, we picked up on their trail, which would've gotten us here anyways."

"But he knew that they'd probably try and lose any pursuers." Anko nodded, smiling over at him, looking impressed. "And so, he left that first blood trail as a hint. 'Expect another of these later.', that sort of thing?"

"Well, that's what I thought, anyways." Naruto rubbed his upper lip, trying not to let his ego get too big. "That and it was probably just a way to get it into our heads. A sort of 'look for this' kind of thing."

"Alright, alright," Zabuza broke up the festivities. "You're very impressive. Now, enough of the dilly-dallying," The former-mist Ninja stepped up to the entrance, cracking open the makeshift door and pushing it open. "We're going in."

Naruto gulped.

"I'm not the type to give some grand speech," Zabuza muttered under his breath. "So I'll keep it brief. Stay close to each other, and have each other's backs."

Naruto, along with every other member of their group, gave a single, solitary nod at the man's words.

"Alright…"

"Let's go."

/-/

Sakura let out a quick yelp of pain as Tayuya's knee impacted against her back, sending her tumbling to the grimy floor below, and forcing her to bow to the man before her. Sasuke was off to her left, though when one of the others, she believed she'd heard his name was Kidomaru, kicked him, he merely flinched slightly, but stayed standing.

She wished she had the bravado, or the strength, but she was a bit out of it at the moment.

"Well, well, well." A man in the back of the room, with white, curly hair and yellow, almost snake-like eyes stood from his throne. He stepped towards their little entourage with an almost unnerving confidence. "How nice of the four of you to finally show up."

There was a flicker of movement behind her, as if the four ninjas had felt a small shock of fear shoot up their spines, but other than that, they stayed stationary, and breathed not a word.

"You were far, far too slow." The man spoke, leering at the four of them as he stepped closer, and perhaps it was Sakura's imagination, but she could've sworn they all stepped back. "I gave you an important mission, and you took nearly a week to accomplish it. I had to take some fools body, rather than this…"

The central figure, who Sakura could only imagine, despite what her eyes told her, must be Orochimaru, grabbed onto Sasuke's face. With a complete lack of tenderness, he lifted the boy's jaw, and exposed his neck.

"Greater specimen." Orochimaru smirked, though it was hidden by bandages all over his face. "It's a shame I have no need to mark you at this point, I would have loved to see you fight off the curses affects… or perhaps give in? Alas, I suppose we shall never know."

Orochimaru practically threw back Sasuke's face, and the boy gritted his teeth together as he hung his head slightly, not wanting to make eye-contact with the Sannin. Sakura couldn't much blame him.

"Your failure is a cause for concern, I must say." Orochimaru walked past Sasuke, standing directly in front of the four Sound ninja, who, at that point, were now visibly panicked. "If you can't handle something this simple, then what, truly, could I trust the four of you with?"

Not a single one spoke, and Orochimaru clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth, sounding almost… disappointed.

Or perhaps merely feigning it.

"I would have liked to discipline you, but unfortunately for I, and perhaps fortunately for the four of you, I will have need of your strength sometime soon." Orochimaru walked back past them, standing once more in front of Sasuke and Sakura. "I would advise you thank me for my generosity."

"T-thank you, Lord Orochimaru." The four bowed their heads.

"Good. Leave us."

They exited the chamber, and Sakura didn't miss the way one of them, apparently the leader, let out a massive breath of relief as they closed the door to the chamber behind them.

"Now then… Onto business."

Suddenly, it was Sakura's face in the man's grip, and he looked oddly excited as he squeezed her cheeks together.

"To think the small dosage of Hashirama cells I put into that mark could manifest in such a way…" He smiled underneath the bandages, and he almost looked to be in ecstasy as he pushed her head back, revealing the mark underneath her hair. "The Wood Style… After that first one escaped, and that brat Kakashi took him under his wing, I thought that'd be the last I'd see of it…"

Orochimaru leaned down, grinning ecstatically past the cloth cover.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, my new toy."

A shiver shot up her spine as she instinctively fought against the man's grip, but whatever strength he held onto her with was apparently more than enough to keep her contained, for she could not struggle her way out of his clutches.

"I believe you'll be going straight to Kabuto for testing." He declared, turning towards his desired vessel. "Sasuke, you will be-"

"I'll be going with her."

Orochimaru's single exposed eye widened ever so slightly. Evidently, he hadn't much expected that response.

"Oh?" He muttered quietly, seemingly rather caught off guard. "And why would I allow that?"

"Because if you don't, I'll gouge out my Sharingan the second I'm able to!"

Sakura and Orochimaru both reacted very similarly, turning to the boy as if he were mad. Unlike her, however, it seemed Orochimaru's expression quickly morphed into one of abject amusement.

"Hmm…" The snake Sannin regarded the boy differently, as if finally looking at him for the first time. "Very well. Go with her."

Sasuke nodded, but otherwise showed the Sannin not an ounce of respect. He grabbed her by the hand as two ninja, each wearing odd coverings over their faces, emerged from the door behind them, and silently guided them out of the room, and down into the bowels of the base below.

The trip through what felt almost like a cavern did nothing for Sakura's already frayed nerves. This whole experience had come just when she'd been pining for a break, hell, she'd been asleep when she was kidnapped and brought here alongside Sasuke.

And he seemed to be taking this a bit better than her.

Still, she couldn't break down, even if she wanted nothing more than to curl up in the corner and cry herself to sleep.

"You alright, Sakura?"

She turned towards him, keeping a level expression as he gazed worriedly towards her. It seemed that, despite her attempts to hide it, he'd caught onto her plight rather quickly.

"I'm okay." She sort of lied. "I'm just so tired."

Sasuke nodded, at the very least, it seemed like he agreed with her on that front.

"This entire month's been exhausting, I get you." The boy reached across and put his hand on her shoulder, a silent show of support just when she needed it. "Don't worry. We're only going to be here a couple days. I'm sure a certain blonde numbskull won't rest until he's got the both of us back."

Despite her downer mood, she found herself smiling at the boy's comment.

_That does seem awfully likely. _She smiled genially to herself, letting the warm feeling encompass her entire chest, trying to shake off some of the jitters this place emanated. _I… I've just gotta' have faith in Naruto._

"Besides…" Sasuke leaned in, whispering to her so that the two guards escorting them couldn't hear. "I left a trail for him to follow."

Sakura turned towards him a bit surprised. In all of the stress that had surrounded her during their little trip over here, she hadn't even thought to do something like that.

"And… until he gets here…" Sasuke's face was a bit hard to make out in the candlelight that barely illuminated him, but she almost thought she could see him blushing. "I'll protect you. I promise."

Now it was her own turn, and she looked away as her cheeks practically caught fire. She hadn't forgotten the promise they'd made during the Chuunin Exams, and she'd thought that, after the entire Root situation had finally been resolved, they'd have been able to talk about some of it…

Still, it wasn't the time for that now. They had to focus on surviving this first and foremost.

"We've arrived." One of the twin guards leading them spoke up. "Master Kabuto will see you inside."

She flinched slightly at the man's words, trying not to shake in place as she reached over and took Sasuke's hand in her own, squeezing it tightly for support.

"Okay…" She spoke through a tiny smile, turning back towards Sasuke with a wobbly smile, despite the veritable hell they'd been thrust into.

"I believe you."

**End Chapter 47**

* * *

**Yo.**

**About the wrist thing, I've been having problems off and on for a few months now, but they've been getting worse lately. I'm ordering two wrist braces and am going to hope that helps out, and I'll probably see a doctor to see what this is in a few weeks. Unfortunately, given the whole worldwide plague thing, I don't really think I'll be able to get in for the time being, so for now, just gonna take it easy.**

**Chapters should still come out weekly, though they'll be closer to three or four thousand words, like this one, rather than the seven or eight you've probably gotten used to.**

**Thanks for your patience, or something of that general nature.  
**

**See you next week!**


	48. Chapter 48

**Well, well, well. Look what we have here. It's me. Me is what we have here.  
**

**Without further ado…**

* * *

**Chapter 48: A Desperate Promise  
**

* * *

Sakura stepped into Kabuto's… office with a terrified air, and Sasuke couldn't help but want to tell her to calm down.

He didn't, largely because he knew there wasn't much point.

"Ah, you've arrived." Kabuto stood from a chair in the back of the room, where he'd previously been hunched over, and quietly reading something off the monitor in front of him. "Sasuke, Sakura, welcome to my humble little abode."

He scowled almost instantly, the man's sick sense of humor doing nothing for the already frayed nature of his nerves. It seemed that Sakura was much the same, for she recoiled back slightly, taking a single step towards him. He reached out with his hand and placed his palm on the center of her back, trying to show a sense of support that the man across from them wouldn't notice.

"So, I feel there's no real need for introductions, we're all acquainted, after all." Kabuto stepped to the side, silently calling Sakura forward as he gestured to the bed which stood in the center of the room. "Lie down and get comfortable. You'll be here for a bit."

Sasuke took a step towards Kabuto as Sakura lied down. He tried to hold his emotions together, not allowing them to rule over him as Kabuto turned his head, evidently a bit interested in what he'd say.

"Any funny business…" He muttered quietly, letting his Sharingan spin into place in his skull and narrowing his eyes. "And I won't hesitate to-"

"Relax." Kabuto smirked at his obvious discomfort, walking away from him and pulling out his chair from the monitor he'd been at before. The chair was on wheels, and so as he sat down, he pushed himself next to Sakura's position, leaning down and massaging his chin with one hand. "I've no intention of hurting her for the sake of it. I'm no sadist, I can reign myself in on occasion."

"It's the 'on occasion' part that I'm worried about." Sasuke gritted his teeth together. "Just… don't hurt her. Please."

The man across from him said nothing as he paused for a moment. After perhaps three seconds, an easy smile appeared on his face, and he turned towards Sakura. It seemed that whatever conversation they'd been having was now over.

"Right. So, you gained access to the wood style thanks to an odd mixture of Natural energies and Hashirama Senju cells that were implanted in the curse mark, along with your own application of earth and water typed chakras." Kabuto looked oddly impressed as he nodded once or twice, turning back to Sakura and regarding her a bit differently. "Fun little scenario, isn't it?"

Sakura said nothing, eyeing the man hesitantly as she sat still on the bed beneath her.

"Right, you're both panicking, I forgot." Kabuto sighed, sounding almost annoyed for some strange reason. "No jokes, I suppose. That's a crying shame, but I guess I'll make it."

He rolled back over to his desk, and reached over towards a spot near the back, grabbing a scroll from out of it and setting it down on the table before him. He rifled through it quickly, evidently knowing where he was looking inside of it. Eventually, he found the black symbol he'd been looking for, and poured chakra into the seal, bringing out a small vial.

The object in question was an empty needle, for what seemed to be extraction purposes. He turned towards Sakura and lightly dabbed her neck with a numbing agent, just where the curse mark usually appeared.

"I'm going to draw a few things out of this, though you shouldn't really feel it." Kabuto explained, before beginning to count. "Now, you'll feel a slightly pain in three…"

He stuck the needle into her neck, though it seemed like Sakura hadn't actually felt it enter.

"Two…"

He pulled up on the needle, watching as an oddly colored, almost black mixture filled the vial on the end of the sharp point.

"And done."

Sakura seemed confused, turning back towards the man as he walked back towards his desk.

"Wait, what?"

Kabuto seemed equally confused himself.

"You never had that done as a kid?" Kabuto remarked casually, snickering a bit childishly as he sat back down at his desk. "I lied to you to keep your muscles from tensing up. It's a pretty standard procedure."

"R-right…" Sakura murmured quietly, rubbing the spot on her neck he'd drawn the substance from. "Just didn't expect it from you…"

Kabuto snorted.

"I'll pretend that wasn't rude."

"You work for Orochimaru." Sakura's eyes narrowed. "It was supposed to be rude."

Kabuto pointed back at her without looking, as if silently surrendering that point. He worked for quite a while, at least twenty minutes, before he drew the vile back out from the spot he'd left it and poured a small amount on a sheet before him.

"So, the question now is… what happens if I inject more Hashirama cells? Would that allow the wood style to act more freely? Or would that, as I suspect…"

He poured a small, white liquid onto some of the black mixture he'd taken from Sakura. The two immediately reacted upon touching one another, sprouting out and becoming a massive branch that nearly cut into Kabuto's face, as he'd been leaned over it when it expanded.

"So, It did react, and rather explosively at that." Kabuto rubbed his chin. "Can't inject that… wouldn't want you being eviscerated by your own ability ripping its way out from inside your body."

Sakura shivered, scooting away from the man on his makeshift bed. Sasuke moved closer to her, standing next to her and placing his right hand on her shoulder.

"So… I wonder…" Kabuto drew out a new scroll from his collection, moving through it quickly, until he spawned another object from inside the parchment. "Perhaps natural energies… and a bit more chakra… would allow it to…"

He poured a small amount of the new substance onto a drop of the black mixture, and this time, the reaction was nowhere near as grand. However, there was a notable happening, as if the mixture were glowing with energy. Even Sasuke, without his Sharingan active, could tell that something about it was powerful.

"Well, well." Kabuto smiled. "That'll do it."

He turned to look at Sakura once more, massaging his chin as he stood and walked over. He pushed some of his weight on the edge of the bed as he leaned over and inspected her neck once more, making a small humming noise as he bent back out.

He reached back towards his desk and wrote something down on a sheet of paper. He stepped out towards the edge of the room, and, seemingly remembering they were there, spoke to them quickly.

"Obviously, I'd recommend not leaving this room. The base has more than a few traps set up, not to mention some of the more… extreme members." Kabuto smiled as he strode out of the room. "I'll be right back!"

The sound of the man's footfalls gradually faded, until there was only an uncomfortable silence sitting around the two of them, plaguing the entire room with a foreboding sense of fear.

"You alright?" Sasuke asked Sakura, stepping back and giving the girl space to move. "He didn't inject anything with that, did he?"

"No, it was purely a withdraw… I just wish I knew what he was taking." Sakura grimaced slightly as she rubbed her curse mark with her left hand, turning and letting her legs hang off of the structure supporting her. "It was something connected to my curse mark, obviously, and he was trying to power up the wood style, but… the way it reacted… I don't know if I want either of those things being put in my body."

"You don't know?" Sasuke tried to lighten the mood. "I feel like you should fairly solidly know you **don't **want those things put in your body. They seemed less than fun."

The girl snorted, so it was mission accomplished.

"Still… I can't say I feel terribly comfortable at the moment." Sakura's arm shook slightly, and she grabbed onto it, keeping it still. "I mean… He's an agent of Orochimaru for a reason. I… I just don't know what I'm supposed to do."

"For the moment, we just wait." Sasuke spoke, looking back towards the hallway Kabuto had left from and seeing if the man was anywhere nearby. "We just sit and wait for Naruto to get here. I'm sure he'll have brought an entourage on his own."

Sakura gave a dim smile, and even if it was more muted than it normally was, he was happy there was anything there in the first place.

The sound of steps echoed out from outside their room, and Sasuke turned to see Kabuto walking into the room, carrying an odd sort of basket. It was marked with seals running up the sides, and the entire object gave off such a sinister vibe that Sasuke took a step back from it, before realizing that he needed to stay resolute.

It wasn't him in the firing line, it was Sakura.

"Right." Kabuto spoke, looking towards the two of them and smiled, giving off a rather intimidating aura. "So, Orochimaru agreed with my hypothesis, and we've basically decided that since there aren't many downsides to it, we're going to be advancing your curse mark to the second stage."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, and he watched with his Sharingan as Sakura flinched, her entire body seemingly vibrating ever so slightly with fear.

"What does that mean?" The girl asked, stepping backwards and trying not to breathe more heavily, lest she begin to hyperventilate. "Second stage? What even is that!?"

Kabuto gave off a cocky vibe, a bit like he'd expected the response. He stepped forward and placed the basket upon the ground, taking a set of pills out of his desk and placing a few into his hand.

"These will induce a sort of… death upon the one who ingests them." Kabuto explained. "At that time, your body will begin to undergo a change into the second stage of the Curse Mark. The details don't particularly matter-"

"Like hell they don't matter!"

Kabuto turned towards Sasuke with a small glare, but it didn't negate the way his lips upturned ever so slightly, as clear a sign of the man's amusement as any.

"You think I'll just let that happen!?" Sasuke shouted, reaching back behind him and reaching for a kunai in his bag. "I'll-"

"I think you will let it happen, yes." Kabuto declared with complete confidence. "Because I'm stronger than you."

His eyes widened as the man stepped forward, walking past Sakura and coming to stand directly in front of him, towering over him despite being only a foot taller.

"You'll let it happen because if you don't?" The man tilted his head towards Sakura, and he had to witness the way Sakura flinched away from his gaze, clearly exhausted and terrified. "Then she'll be the one who pays for it."

He shook with rage but could do nothing with it. The man before him wasn't wrong, and that was the thing that truly infuriated him. Kabuto let out a sneer as he turned his back on him, walking towards his desk and beginning to work on… something.

What it was, he did not know, and what it was, it would not matter, for a second later, all hell broke loose.

An alarm that seemed to pierce Sasuke's eardrums rang out throughout the compound, and from the looks of Kabuto's face, he hadn't been expecting it. The man bolted upright, immediately looking down at the left-most part of his desk, where a single monitor lay. He pressed a few buttons on the keyboard below it, and his eyes widened at what he saw.

The man was distracted, and Sasuke knew he had seconds, if that, to act on the idea that'd just barely formed in his head.

He drew a kunai into his hand for real this time, and charged forward, vaulting Sakura's bed as he thrust the blade forward. It didn't connect with Kabuto's back, as he'd hoped, but it did manage to jostle the man slightly as he held Sasuke at bay with a blade of his own.

"Oh!?" Kabuto let out a slightly manic laugh, batting him away with his own edge and taking a step back, blocking the entrance, and, Sasuke supposed, the exit, to the room they were in. "Interesting. Waiting for me to lower my guard to attack me. Unfortunately, you're still as outmatched as you were before."

Sasuke said nothing, weaving into the man's guard with the help of his Sharingan, and slashing upwards.

He was brought back to their fight in the Chuunin exams, when he and Kabuto had first clashed blades against one another. Back then, he'd been overwhelmingly suspicious of the boy who seemed so terribly reluctant to go all out against him, even willing to lose the match to not have to show what he could do.

Now, he got a full taste of Kabuto's power. The muscles he's restrained in their earlier bout were allowed to waltz, the balls of his feet that he'd kept squarely on the ground before now soared through the skies, carried along by the tips of his toes as he practically danced around the room, drawing a few senbon into his left hand and effortlessly forcing them through Sasuke's own guard.

He grunted as the needles impacted into his body. Thanks to the Sharingan, he'd been able to barely dodge them hitting his pressure points and shutting down his body, but that didn't mean having four large needles forcefully embedded into his body felt any better, either, nor did it make the moves he'd have to pull off to beat Kabuto any easier.

He took a few heavy breaths as he formed the series of hand signs for the Fireball Jutsu, though just as he'd been about to breath out the complicated mix of chakra and flame, Kabuto had suddenly been on him in an instant, punching him quite forcefully in the abdomen and practically ejecting the chakra he'd been building up inside of it.

The excess energy had forced its way into his throat and caught fire as it hit the flame chakra he'd been preparing. Left with a burning esophagus and very few options, he forced the flames out as a heavily modified Dragon Flame Jutsu, practically shouting the fire out of his mouth and all around them.

The room was set ablaze as Kabuto took a few quick steps back, spinning a bit superfluously as he landed, though whether that was to put out the tiny ember that had briefly caught his pant leg, or whether he'd just been feeling Sasuke's own dance metaphor, the Uchiha couldn't be sure.

Either way, he knew he had to push his own tempo onto the Oto ninja across from him, and thusly, he'd brought himself forward…

Only for Sakura to jump past him and bring her own blade to Kabuto's own.

In all of the commotion, he'd somehow forgotten the girl was even there, despite the fact that she'd been the reason he was doing all of this. His focus had been so entirely consumed by Kabuto, that his own objective had gone overlooked.

Still, she was certainly here now, and two on one was certainly a brighter prospect then dealing with Kabuto on his own.

The man hadn't been lying earlier, he was definitely better than Sasuke on his own. Really, it was a lot more like when he'd sparred with Kakashi than anything. The battles had been quick and one-sided, his only real advantage being that he could go at Kakashi with the will to kill him, and know that the other man wouldn't so much as dream of letting that happen.

The same held true now, the problem was he was that he was fairly sure Kabuto had no real qualms with beating the ever-loving shit out of him.

Sakura seemed to have realized the same thing, though there was a certain brutality in her movements that hadn't been there the last time they'd fought side-by-side against Gaara.

She seemed to almost possess a killer edge now, and the way she moved was almost like Kabuto, as if she were a flowing snake, often jutting out at odd angles to try and get the drop on her opponent. Sasuke realized a few moments later, as the girl ducked underneath one of Kabuto's blade and continued to slide on the floor below her, that she must've gotten the new techniques from Anko.

_I guess they did have more than a month and a half training together almost entirely in isolation. _Sasuke reasoned with himself, barely blocking a chakra scalpel from Kabuto that would've severed his arm's muscles from his shoulder. _She'd have been destined to pick up some things. Frankly, I'm glad it was the combat, and not the attitude._

His own joke didn't even land that well in his head, and so he chose to not voice it, for fear of a similar reception from the living world.

Still, the girl's style looking like Kabuto's probably wasn't all that far-fetched. After all, the movements were probably all part of a larger set, one used by Orochimaru.

He was brought back to reality by a small shout from Sakura, the girl's movements only able to take her so far as they bobbed and weaved through Kabuto's strikes. Even with her curse mark active, TKabuto was, truly, just better than the both of them put together. They had no real hope of beating him, and especially not when they couldn't really bring out their true abilities, given their own exhaustion, and the tiny space they'd been given for their duel, with no real room to play with distances to outmaneuver a superior opponent.

Kabuto made quick work of mopping him up after Sakura fell, sweeping his legs out from under him with a single kick, and holding a blade to his throat.

Sasuke squirmed for all of a second before realizing he wasn't making it out of it, but it didn't make a difference, for a tiny pain in the back of his neck set off an alarm of his own inside his head.

He reached back just in time to feel a receeding metal object that was cool to the touch. He didn't have to hazard that much of a guess to know it was a needle, and, more specifically, a needle loaded with a hazardous chemical.

_Shit… _Sasuke thought, already watching the edges of his vision begin to blur. _Can't… lose this quick… have to buy… him time…_

He tried to force his hand up, tried to pry Kabuto off of him, but to no avail. Even Sakura, who'd managed to get back on her feet, was quickly subdued once Kabuto could afford to let go of him. He struggled aimlessly against his own heavy body, but by the time his opponent had shifted his weight off of him, he'd been too tired to put up any more of a fight.

"Well, you certainly caught me by surprise, I'll give you that." Kabuto sneered snobbishly, rubbing his nose, and catching a small drop of blood that had, presumably, been spilled by Sakura. He'd landed no such hits of his own. "Shame it didn't mean much in the end."

Kabuto walked by them, looking down at Sakura's body and kneeling on her back. The girl struggled briefly, but stopped as the ninja injected the same substance he'd put into Sasuke into her neck.

Sasuke's eyes were incredibly heavy as he let himself fall to the floor. He could barely move his fingers, much less try and put up and resistance. The alarm continued to blare above him, and he had the vaguest sense that there was still something he could be doing…

_Oh… right… _He remembered groggily. _Blood…_

He looked around, spotting a broken glass jar that had been launched from kabuto's desk during their fight. He did all he could to get his finger towards it, and, just before Kabuto deemed Sakura too tired to resist capture, managed to prick his finger on it.

A small trail of red came from where his hand had just been, and he smiled tiredly as unconsciousness devoured him.

/-/

Zabuza rushed far ahead of the group, cleaving sound ninjas apart like he'd been trained his entire life to do it, and, to be fair to him, Naruto considered, he kind of had been.

"Hurry it up back there!" The elder ninja shouted, ducking underneath a wind based Jutsu, before utterly annihilating the man who'd fired it off. "If we're to get them out before they can move them, then we've got to be quick!"

Naruto nodded as he dashed forward, juking two other ninja's strikes and driving his own kunai into the ribcage of one. He went down fast, though he was clearly very alive, given the way he shouted in pain. The other was dealt with by Dosu, who's newly repaired gauntlet sent a shockwave of sound down and into the man's body, knocking him out cold on his feet.

Zabuza tanked on forward, but it was really Haku, sowing descent in the enemies lines up ahead, who was doing most of the work. The formations they were dealing with were already missing a man or two by the time they made it to them, and that made them easy pickings for the two Jonin, and even the five Genin, all things considered.

"I got something!" Kiba shouted suddenly, as Akamaru barked incessantly at a nearby fork in the path, as if ordering them to take it. "Akamaru smells Sasuke's blood! He's this way!"

Naruto didn't even wait to hear Zabuza's orders, blitzing down the path with Kiba hot on his heels. Every couple of seconds, the dog would let out a bark, and Kiba would correct their path. He noticed about twenty seconds later that Anko was following behind them as well, and he assumed the rest of them would be there shortly.

They took a flight of stairs three steps at a time, Naruto leaping the last ten or so and rolling at the bottom, continuing to run as he pushed himself forward. At the end of the hallway, unmistakable even to his hope-ridden brain, were the unconscious forms of Sakura and Sasuke…

And they were being hauled away by Kabuto, of all people.

"SASUKE! SAKURA!" He shouted, jumping into the room and bringing his blade down on Kabuto's form.

Unfortunately, another sword met his own edge half-way, and he was buffeted back by the force of another sound ninja. This one seemed unimportant, but the way he smirked let Naruto know he had no intention of letting him past, or getting to his friends.

"Sakura!" Anko shouted out from behind him, before grunting suddenly as something forced her to focus.

"Naruto, Anko, how nice of you to join us." Kabuto laughed. "Funny, I had thought the intruder alarm would be someone else, though I suppose I should've known it'd be you guys."

_Someone else? _Naruto briefly considered. _Who… no, I can't afford to think about that right now!_

"Let them go!" He shouted, taking a step forward, bringing a shadow clone into being and drawing some chakra into his hand. "What the hell did you do to them!?"

Kabuto sighed wearily.

"If you must know, they attacked me. I just knocked them out as humanely as possible." The man yawned. "Quite honestly, you should be thanking me."

He saw red for a brief moment, blitzing through the ninja before him with the Rasengan, but being stopped by another, almost identical man, wearing a mask standard to the sound ninja's clothing set.

"Welp, that's all the time I have right now, Mr. Uzumaki, but I assure you, if you'd like to make an appointment in the coming days, I'm sure I could fit you in."

Kabuto jumped backwards, pressing a button on his keyboard with his elbow, and then smashing the thing to bits with it a second later. A bulkhead door at the back of the room that had previously been disguised as a wall opened up, and Kabuto slinked inside, carrying the bodies of his two best friends with him.

"Have a great time! Oh, and try not to die, I've actually grown decently fond of you."

He growled, a bit of the Nine-Tails chakra flooding his system as he forced his fist into the stomach of the man before him, bucking the man's legs out from under him. He turned back around to see what was holding up Anko and Kiba, and saw them dealing with soldiers of their own.

_Damnit… Damnit!_

"Sakura, Sasuke!" He shouted, watching as the door began to shut at the end of the room, and two more guards took the last one's place, beginning to duel him in the center of the room. "Guys, wake up!"

As if on cue, Sasuke's eyes fluttered open ever so slightly. If he hadn't been expressly looking for it, there would've been no way he'd have seen it. A surge of hope charged through him, but it disappeared a second later, when Sasuke didn't even move in Kabuto's grasp.

The boy's mouth moved, but no sound came out.

_I… I'm sorry, guys… I can't protect you right now… but…_

_But…_

"I'm coming, you two!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, battling the twin ninja in front of him with all that he had. "Don't you worry! I'll be right there to rescue you! You can just sit back and relax! Because…"

He blocked a particularly nasty blow, and, with all the strength in his body, sent the man flying backwards with a strike of his own.

"I'll save you! I promise!"

And the bulkhead door shut.

**End Chapter 48**

* * *

**Hey hey.**

**Not a ton to say. New schedule's a lot better for my wrists, and they've been feeling a lot better this past week as I've been wearing braces while I sleep. **

**Other than that, not a ton to say, other than maybe stay indoors, and stay healthy!**

**See you all next week!**


	49. Chapter 49

**Welp, we've arrived once more at Wednesday, which means chapter.**

**Without further ado, let's hope nothing's askew.**

* * *

**Chapter 49: And Thus, It Began  
**

* * *

Sakura's entire being was enveloped in darkness, surrounded on all sides by a malevolent will, trying to choke the very life out of her.

She took a harsh, shaky breath, but didn't feel her lungs fill up with air. Then again, as the minutes ticked by and she couldn't breathe, she also didn't feel herself dying, either. It was more like…

She was already dead.

She tried not to shudder as she remembered Kabuto's words. The man had said the pills he'd feed her would force her into a near-death state. But this… this was something else entirely. It felt nothing like she'd ever experienced before. Even the first time she'd been marked with the curse mark, the experience had been… perhaps similar, but altogether different in intensity.

She tried to reach out with her hands, but found them unresponsive. There was simply nothing to reach for, nothing to feel for, nothing to touch, or see, or hear. An empty, black void, completely vacant of life.

Even hers.

She coughed as something seemed to surround her neck, cutting off her intake of air that she knew she had no need of. It didn't matter, the panic set in anyways.

She heard voices surrounding her, speaking words she couldn't understand, and she felt a pain shoot up her spine as something entered into her. She knew nothing of what any of these feelings were, and truly couldn't comprehend what they may be.

There was a horrid, wretched scream, calling out seemingly to her. She caught it only in the very depths of her mind, recognizing the voice but unable to place it. Perhaps it was one of her friends, or perhaps it was Kabuto, shouting that she was about to die by his hand. Or perhaps Orochimaru, cackling evilly as she succumbed to his poison.

Her throat was completely enveloped in the dark feeling, and she tried and failed to force air out of her mouth. There was, as before, nothing to see, and yet she felt she could tell that the thing constricting her was black like tar, entering into her mouth and traveling down into her stomach, filling it in a way so very different to anything she could comprehend.

And then suddenly, it felt like she was on fire.

Pain shot up every follicle, every atom of her body. She tried to scream, or shout, or call for help. Nothing once more. She tried to push herself out of whatever dark space she'd been trapped in, kicking and flailing with her arms and legs to see if she could find any space, any purchase with which to escape.

Nothing once more.

She heard her own voice, sounding desolate and afraid, echoing in her own mind, though she knew that such a thing was a figment of her imagination. She could not scream, not with the inky black substance stuck in her esophagus. She could not see, not when such a thing covered her eyes, and she could not hear with it filling her ears.

She desperately fought for what felt like an eternity against the call of death itself. Any moment it felt as if she would fade, and then, hellishly, the fire would only burn hotter, forcing her back awake, and back into the unending pain.

She hated it.

That was what she decided, what she could only approximate was about four or five hours later. She hated the feeling with every fiber of her being. She hated the noose around her neck, and the blackness suffocating her. She hated the bindings on her hands and legs, and the blindfold around her eyes. She seethed against them, shouting not with fear, but with a raw feeling of utter rage.

And suddenly, she could feel the pain subsiding.

It wasn't a massive difference, but she was fairly sure she'd have done nearly anything to feel the pain fade even slightly. She slammed her hands down upon the ground, which, much like her hands, seemed to have only just materialized into being, or perhaps this was the first time she'd been able to perceive it. She kicked out against the wicker against her, and felt the inside of the basket she'd been placed inside give way to her force. It didn't break, for some strange reason, she could not break it, but the pain was leaving.

She needed to make the pain disappear. She could no longer stand it.

She screamed in agony and fury and sorrow and manic joy, forcing the outsides of her confines back. She fought against an illusory demon, constantly assaulting her from all sides with hellfire and brimstone, until at last, she felt something begin to give.

A small, tiny crack in the bristling material that held her inside this cage. She knew it was not enough for her to destroy it entirely. She also wasn't sure if she cared at all what asinine things she 'knew'.

Her fist found the spot once more, and this time, she knew where her rage was coming from.

Her own self, of course, but now that a tiny, almost insignificant light was streaming in from the crack, she could see the design running down her right arm…

Or lack thereof. Instead, she noticed the way her entire right arm was an almost gray color. It strayed into purple every so slightly, as if silently glowing with power.

Power she wanted, no, needed to unleash.

She brought her fist back, and slammed it into the wall of the basket surrounding her. This time, the wicker material, sealed and shut as it was, seemed to give ever so slightly, and she swore she could almost hear it creak, like an old, worn-down gate that had been assaulted for years with water and rust.

She didn't hold back, instead, she let the curse marks energy flow through her even more, forcing more of it into the front of her fist, and impacting it against the edge of her prison. This time, the effect was more noticeable, the walls cracking from around where she'd smashed it in.

And then, pulling her arm back and letting out one final, agonizing shriek, she demolished the last thing holding her back.

She rolled out of the now destroyed basket, forcing her to place both of her hands on the floor below her. It was a cold granite, dirtied from hundreds if not thousands stepping upon it. She growled as she saw it, bringing her fist back once more and slamming it into the hard material.

Instead of breaking her fist on the spot, like she perhaps should've, she formed a crater in the earth below her, smirking slightly as she looked at the results of her handiwork.

Good. That was good. She knew that. If she could break stone with a single punch, then she could easily defeat someone as pathetic as Kabuto.

She forced herself to stand, barely managing to do so as she took in her surroundings. There were multiple people surrounding her, all in varying states of shock. They wore white lab coats that covered them from head to toe, all except for two figures. One was Kabuto, the man she'd been expecting, who's appearance instantly sparked a hatred in her that forced her forward, stepping towards the man and once more letting out an almost animalistic snarl.

Kabuto gave an almost manic smile.

"Well, isn't this a surprise." Kabuto looked about as shocked as the others there, but he hid his emotions far better, showing his teeth as if to give off a wilder impression. "After the first few hours, I almost assumed you were dead. And then…"

She charged at him, closing the distance between them in record time. He blocked her first strike, but she noticed the way he slid back ever so slightly. He hadn't wanted to give her ground, there, but her newfound strength hadn't given him the choice.

She'd landed a hit on the man's nose before, but now… now that same blow would knock the bastards muzzle clean off.

A surplus of power filled her limbs, and she kicked off of the man's arms, and… glided slightly. She wondered just what the hell it was let her do such a thing, until she tried to reach out with her second pair of arms to feel and…

And she only just now questioned why she had a second pair of arms.

The massive hands on the ends of her… wings? Seemed to lend her an almost flight-like ability. She was fairly sure they wouldn't actually allow her to gain height, but she'd been surprised by far stupider things before. She certainly wasn't going to question it yet.

She used them as a boost, rocketing forward once more and leading with her left leg, which absolutely destroyed Kabuto's guard, and launched the man into the wall behind him. She gave a wild laugh but was almost instantly brought back to reality as her brain registered the only other person in the room who wasn't in a lab coat.

Sasuke stood stunned at the back of the space, looking solemnly at her with eyes that seemed to scream that she was hideous, horrifying, and unrecognizable. She felt a large pang of guilt, knowing that her behavior towards the man before her, Kabuto, probably wasn't helping his view of her…

_Who cares? _A part of her asked fiercely, smiling at her from out of the darkness of her mindscape. _He doesn't need to love us. All we need to do is kill the bastard in front of us, and then everything can go back to normal._

She found it difficult to argue with the voice in her head, and so instead of bothering, she accepted its wisdom, elongating her nails into knife-like blades and breaking for the downed sound ninja once more.

Unfortunately for her, it seemed he had prepared for this contingency.

A shock flew up her neck, and as she instinctively reached for the device causing such pain to her, she found a terribly thick metal collar surrounding her neck. It sent another volt of energy down her neck, practically electrocuting her on the spot as she was forced to the ground, screaming and slamming her fists into the granite, breaking pieces of it and sending them flying into the air.

"Good thing I took precautions early on." Kabuto laughed a bit maniacally, wiping the sweat off of his brow as he walked over to her with that same overconfident, snarky expression as before. "You looked like you weren't going to make it for the longest time, and then all of a sudden, you just bust out of there a day and a half early… hah! I really do like you three! You're always so full of surprises!"

She struggled against the piece on her neck, feeling her muscles tense and untense rapidly as she was forced once more to the ground. The doctors around her kept their distance, and she could see why they might. The air she gave off was…

It was terrifying, wasn't it?

She looked towards Sasuke, seeing the way even he kept a healthy birth. She tried to move her hand towards him, to calm him down, but nothing happened as the lightning in her throat kept coursing through her, and black spots danced in her vision. Evidently, Kabuto was confident in her vitality, not fearing killing her with the device on her neck, and was taking absolutely no chances, deciding to knock her out rather than risk her escaping once more.

Still…

She hated the look in Sasuke's eyes. She hated it in an entirely different way to the way she'd hated the bindings that had restrained her before. It was a hate that made her want to put away her curse mark, to seal away her strength, to go back to just being herself…

She longed only for the simpler times as her consciousness faded.

/-/

Naruto heard Anko swear from behind him, pulling him by his collar out and away from a trap that had opened up beneath them. He watched as a few conspicuous pebbles fell into the fiery pit below him, and he let out a panicked sort of laugh as he turned back around and thanked the woman.

"Don't mention it." She spoke, rubbing some sweat from her brow and helping him stand. "Just be careful. I'm not sure if the Nine-tails could heal you through that."

There was a low rumbling from the depths of his stomach, almost like a laugh, and Naruto had the sneaking suspicion that he'd have survived if he fell in, but the result wouldn't have been pretty. Plus, he was pretty sure it would've come at the cost of the Nine-tails using that as a perfect opportunity to try and take over his body.

"Still, to trap their own base to this extent…" Zabuza stepped forward, kneeling down in front of the pit and rubbing his chin. "You'd see this kind of behavior occasionally from warlords and their like, the kinds of people who make far too many enemies to last very long. But Orochimaru always struck me as just a bit more… refined then that."

"He seems scared." Anko commented, continuing with the man's point. "Like… there's something coming for him that even he knows he can't beat. The real problem is determining just what the hell that is. We've been seeing the signs for a while now, after all."

Zabuza hummed in response, standing up and turning back to their group.

"I'm going to say this knowing it's a stupid question," He asked Zaku, Dosu, and Kin specifically. "But did Orochimaru have any especially powerful enemies?"

Dosu smiled from under his bandages, and Kin and Zaku both let out tiny laughs, despite the overwhelming atmosphere surrounding them.

"Do you mean besides the five main villages? Or half of the minor ones?" Kin teased ever so slightly, before straightening herself out slightly, holding back on another laugh. "Aside from those more obvious ones… I don't know, he never really told us lackey's anything about him personally, obviously. He could've had some more enemies, but-"

"Akatsuki."

Everyone turned towards him, and it took a few moments before Naruto realized he'd been the one to speak. He swallowed on nothing as his mouth suddenly felt much dryer, considering the implications of what he was about to suggest, and finding himself fearful.

"What if… What if the Akatsuki is coming for him? I mean, they killed that Danzo guy with just two of them, and he was a Kage level ninja, right?"

"Well, what made Danzo a threat was his information network, along with his veritable army under his personal command, but he was pretty tough on his own, as well." Zabuza explained. "The impressive part isn't that they killed him, it's that they snuck in and killed him, and got away with it without so much as a scratch on their bodies."

Anko suddenly smacked herself on the forehead.

"Of course!" She practically shouted. "How the hell did I manage to forget!? Orochimaru was a member of the Akatsuki, Jiraiya told me as much!"

Ice shot down Naruto's spine. If those people were coming after Orochimaru… people like Kisame, Itachi, and those two mysterious figures who killed Danzo…

"If they're coming here… That'd be quite bad." Zabuza summarized, clicking his tongue on the roof of his mouth. "And we're in no way equipped to be dealing with an S-Rank ninja, let alone multiple."

"Uhm…" Haku muttered quietly, raising his hand like he was trying to be called upon by a teacher. "Could you guys tell me what you're talking about?"

"Right, sorry, brat." Zabuza turned to his sort-of-son. "But where to start…"

They filled Haku in over the course of the next five or so minutes as they walked along the dreary corridors, trying to find out where it was Kabuto had taken Sasuke and Sakura. They were, as much as they could, holding to their mission. They were here simply to get those two back and get out, but the soldiers who poured in from all directions were making that… notably more difficult.

Still, at the very least, they had the three from the sound with them. Zaku, Kin, and Dosu were helpful in identifying common spots, like a rest hall and cafeteria, which Naruto hadn't ever thought Orochimaru would install, but when he thought about it further, he concluded that even evil people had to eat.

The three of them also led them past multiple traps that the rest of them, perhaps sans Zabuza, would've fallen into.

Speaking of the man, Naruto was finally beginning to see just how impressive of a ninja the Assassin of the Mist truly was. He'd been the first Jonin Naruto and his team encountered, and then they'd immediately gone and faced Orochimaru. He'd sort of forgotten how powerful the man was compared to an average ninja, which was supremely.

He cleaved through regular grunts like they were butter, and never really had a problem even against some of the more experienced ninja that gave the rest of them problems. Haku, especially, seemed to also be adapting rather well, always hanging in front or behind the group and disrupting enemy teams.

"So, if I'm understanding this right," The boy in question massaged his chin as he contemplated their explanation. "They're a group of… international terrorists?"

"More mercenaries, well, at least for a long time they were." Zabuza spoke, signalling for them to hold up as a few soldiers passed by them, and they went unseen. "You'd hear about them every once in a while in the field. They were some of the best of the best. If you hired them, and believe me, it wasn't cheap from what I've heard, then the job got done. Then they just sort of… stopped taking jobs one day. Disappeared off the face of the earth. Everyone just sort of assumed they'd been wiped out by one of the big nations or something, but…"

"I never really heard all that much about them," Anko, who'd stayed largely silent for the past few minutes, nodded at the man's words now, interjecting herself into the conversation. "But around the time they stopped taking jobs was within a bit of Orochimaru leaving the organization. Jiraiya thought he might've destroyed them at the time. For them to just… pop back up, serving their own aims? It's a bit foreboding. And if they really are attacking Orochimaru soon…"

"Then we just need to be out of here before they do." Zabuza summed up rather aptly, signaling once more for Haku to go on ahead of the group and scout out, before almost immediately rescinding the order, holding the boy back. "If we see any sign of them… Shit, we can't exactly run without those two in tow… alright, we'll travel as a group, Haku, you're staying right here with the rest of us, understood?"

The boy nodded, apparently finding no problem with the new plan. Naruto, really, seemed to be the only one who felt a bit nervous, and that was largely because he knew that if the Akatsuki learned he was here…

Well, they probably wouldn't pass up the chance to go ahead and take him too while they were at it.

"Naruto?"

He turned to look at Haku, and the boy put his hand on Naruto's shoulder, firmly squeezing it and giving a supportive smile.

"It's alright." The ice user assured him. "We'll protect you from those guys. After all, who's going to save Sakura and Sasuke if not for you?"

Naruto sighed embarrassedly as he took in the room, seeing the sound trio shoot him teasing expressions as Anko and Zabuza looked on. There was no time for him to worry about himself. This was a mission, and they were in enemy territory.

_I just have to trust them. _He concluded, standing, and nodding towards Haku. _I have to trust that they'll have my back._

"You ready, kid?" Zabuza asked him as he stepped forward.

"Yeah…" He took a deep breath, before facing the black hallways before them, preparing to plunge into the abyss. "I'm ready."

/-/

Sasuke fought against the cuffs around his wrists, but, for perhaps the hundredth time that hour, he discovered that they were just a bit too tough for him to be breaking by himself. It didn't help that they were metal, which meant he couldn't even burn them off, unless he felt like taking his wrists with them.

He didn't.

The alarm from earlier continued to blare, but it was clearly only as a middling alert now, going off every thirty seconds or so, and at perhaps half the volume it'd been set at at first. Evidently, the threat they were receiving was of a lower level than they'd thought it warranted before.

And yet he still found himself caught on one thing.

_Sakura… _

He couldn't get his mind off of what he'd seen earlier. The sight of Sakura as some horrific monster, sporting massive hand-like wings sprouting from her back, and a nasty temper which had struck a chord of fear inside his heart.

A fear he'd never once had for any of his friends. Even now, he was still trying to rally himself against it.

_I have to believe in her. _Sasuke tried to make himself believe, bringing his cuffed hands up and lightly smacking both of his cheeks. _If I don't, then no one will._

_…Well, maybe that's not entirely true._

Naruto would. He knew that without doubt. Even if the girl really had been transformed into some demonic monster, the boy would never, could never find it inside himself to not believe in one of his friends.

He could barely remember seeing Naruto, remembered the boy proclaiming that he'd save them, promising so, but had no idea if that had been a dream he'd had while unconscious, or a true thing he'd seen while on the very edge of passing out.

It didn't particularly matter either way. He'd simply have to trust his friend would be getting here soon.

The door to his cell opened, and to his immense shock, it was Kabuto of all people who stepped inside. He wore a smug grin, and sauntered towards him without a care in the world, clearly perceiving him as even less of a threat now that he was bound and chained.

…Which to be fair was probably true.

Kabuto made a show of checking the room out, inspecting it rather thoroughly, despite it being a prison cell.

"Rather nice place you've got here." Kabuto smarmed, looking back down at him, and trying to hold in a laugh at his expense. "I like the furnishings. Gives it a real homie feel."

Sasuke took a moment to gaze at said 'furnishings', which consisted of a bench, which he was currently sitting on, a single cot, upon with one of the least comfortable wool blankets he'd ever felt lied unused, and a sink at the back of the room, which, as if to taunt him further, had all the (water) pressure of an academy spar.

Even still, he couldn't help but think this was probably one of the nicer cells in this place.

"Yeah." He decided not to get angry this time, but to joke further, showing an aura of strength to his opponent which would, at the very least, satisfy his own ego. "I kind of like it, but the landlords a real tool."

Kabuto breathed out a laugh, sitting down across from him on the cot he'd left abandoned, and almost instantly jerked upwards, grabbing the wool blanket that had been set upon it and held it up in front of him.

"My god, they gave you this to sleep with?" He seemed almost appalled. "I'm fairly sure that's a war crime."

"So, we're ignoring the kidnapping of a minor?" Sasuke almost laughed. "Seems like a bit more of a major thing."

"Meh, you're a ninja, like it or not that means you're a soldier, no matter the rank."

"I can't help but feel kidnapping a soldier is a fairly similar, exactly as egregious act."

"Semantics."

Sasuke could only sigh as the man threw the wool blanket on the ground between the two of them, and finally sat down, looking over at him with a cocky eye.

"So, how ya' been?"

"Could you get to the point, maybe?"

"Right, right." Kabuto yawned, covering his mouth with his left hand. "So, basically, up all night dealing with your girl's curse mark shenanigans-"

"Forgive me if I don't feel too bad for you." Sasuke muttered with a glare. "You did transform her into a monster."

"We didn't, actually." Kabuto corrected him, wagging his finger dismissively. "In truth, we only increased the power and potential of her curse mark, to allow her to utilize the Wood Style more effectively. That change isn't permanent, nor is it taking her over any more than her previous form did. If she had the will to resist that one, than she should be able to do it with this one as well."

That was good news, and it managed to calm him down just a little, despite the source it came from. Thinking of that, though…

"Why are you telling me this?" Sasuke asked, eyeing the man for any signs of deceit. "Shouldn't you normally withhold that kind of information, y'know, build up maximum amounts of despair or something?"

"I feel the need to remind you that I'm not a sadist." Kabuto spoke, smiling amusedly. "Well, not _that _much of one, at least."

"Question." Sasuke reiterated. "Why tell me? Answer it."

Kabuto briefly paused, before pushing up on his glasses and making them glint in the dim light of his cell. For a moment, the frames glowed a soft white, and he held them for a bit longer than Sasuke thought was perhaps normal.

A second later, he let them fall back to their normal position, looking almost entirely the same.

"Who knows?" He spoke cryptically, leaning his head on his arms as he placed them atop his knees. "Does it matter?"

Sasuke pondered that for a while himself. Perhaps it didn't, after all, it wasn't like it changed anything if Kabuto had been trying to be nice to him. They were still enemies at one another's throats. And yet, some tiny part of him claimed it did matter…

Just as he was about to open his mouth once more, the alarm that had been droning on every thirty or so seconds suddenly reached a fever pitch, sending a shiver down Sasuke's spine that left an almost primal fear in the depths of his heart.

"Ah." Kabuto, usually a bastion of childish jokes and smarmy attitude, had a pale white face as he stood from the cot, and immediately turned towards him. "That'd be them, then."

"Who, Naruto!?" He asked, suddenly finding a hope from the sound that droned out from above them, at least until Kabuto laughed, completely devoid of mirth, and looked him square in the eye.

"No." Kabuto said simply, letting out a deep breath that seemed to be trying to calm himself down. "This is the maximum alert alarm, reserved for only the most threatening of foes. High-level assassination attempts, Major nation attacks, those sorts of things…"

The man trailed off, but Sasuke could see he wasn't finished.

"It's actually a bit funny, to be honest." Kabuto spoke, though the dim smile on his face seemed to scream that the situation at hand was anything but. "For these guys? It really doesn't feel like enough."

Kabuto stepped towards him, taking a key out of his back pocket and, with an almost casual air, freed him from the cuffs on his wrists. Sasuke rubbed the spots that had previously been chained up, and looked up at Kabuto, feeling completely and utterly dumbfounded.

"Why the hell are you…"

"I wasn't lying earlier." Kabuto smirked. "When I said I kind of liked you three. You're interesting, and… you're a bit too kind for your own good, to be honest. All of you are."

"Yes, but if Orochimaru figured out you freed me-"

"Sure, yeah, but…" Kabuto hummed quietly, turning back towards the entrance to the prison cell and watching with a blank face as the entire structure began to shake, as if the ground below them and all around was being enveloped in an earthquake.

"I don't think many of us are making it out of this, anyways."

/-/

Nagato watched through Yahiko's eyes as Konan smothered another guard, apathetically witnessing the life drain from his body as his struggles became more and more futile, until at last he fell still on the floor below them. He stepped calmly forward, deigning to walk among those who surrounded them.

With a single hand, he blasted away an oncoming guard, and another of his forms, a terrifying amalgamation of machine and man, fired a set of missiles from within it's arm, blasting away the last remnants of outside resistance to the building they now stood in front of.

"All of you," He uttered without feeling. "Report in."

_"Kisame and Itachi, in position!" _The ninja swordsman called out for the two of them, showing up as a simple hologram next to both he and Konan. _"All ready to start the mission."_

_"Tobi's ready! Oh, and I guess Zetsu's ready as well, aren't you, Zetsu-poo~!"_

_"Never call me that again."_

_"Sasori and Deidara here." _Two others called out, and he looked straight up in the air, where a massive bird made of clay carried the two of them. _"Ready to pick him off if he tries to run, hn."_

_"Smart of you to leave those other two behind, Leader!" _Tobi's achingly loud voice called out from the hologram in front of him. _"They're such party-poopers!"_

_"It's not as if they'll be needed." _Kisame commented, grinning cockily as he crossed his arms and looked towards Pain himself. _"We could've done this with just four of us, I'm honestly not sure why half of us are here."_

"You're here because we will be taking no chances this time." Pain stepped forward, passing straight through Tobi's hologram without a care in the world. "Sending only Sasori and Deidara last time was a mistake. One I mean to remedy."

Kisame backed down, seeing no real reason to argue his point. He understood the significance of their mission as well.

"The mission is simple. We will be pushing into Orochimaru's hideout from all angles, giving the man no means of escape. We will guide Tobi to him, use his newfound power to coerce the man's lifelong research out of him…"

He stopped walking, kneeling down in the exact center of the Sound Village, and placing his hand upon the ground before him.

"And then we will snuff him, and the rest of his minions out."

_"Don't forget, one of my old agents is inside of there,"_ Sasori reminded them._ "Leave him alive, I have use for him."_

_"Yeah, yeah, we all remember." _Deidara yawned. _"Anyways, are we starting, or what."_

"Yes." Nagato spoke, channeling a black ball of energy from his real body with a large amount of his strength, before letting Yahiko's puppeteered body take over, moving the black sphere directly above them and preparing. "Let us begin."

He slammed his hands together.

"Planetary Devastation."

**End Chapter 49**

* * *

**Seems a bit overkill as a first move, but you can't fault his enthusiasm.**

**Also, can't say I fact checked some of the timelines in this chapter. I'm fairly sure they're like... decently accurate? Eh, whatever. I only ask that you don't crucify me if they're wrong, pleaserino.**

**See you all next week!**


	50. Chapter 50

**Continuation of last week... though I suppose that probably goes without saying.**

**Just kidding, we're jumping back 40 years in the past.**

**Without further ado, I was joking.**

* * *

**Chapter 50: The Siege of the Sound**

* * *

Anko seethed silently as her foot connected with the face of a sound ninja, launching him into a wall some ways away, where he soon fell limp upon the ground below him.

_Stop wasting my goddamned time!_

She powered through the small aches and creaks of her muscles, ignoring the way they flared up after defeating perhaps her thirtieth guard. Her body was beginning to grow exhausted, after all, they'd been fighting basically nonstop for two hours now, not to mention they'd been in these dingy halls for over a day.

And she'd only been growing angrier and angrier the longer they roamed the base, desperately searching for any sign of the two they'd come for.

Her own attitude had gotten so bad that Zabuza of all people had told her to calm herself down, and that was when she'd realized she probably needed to focus. She took a deep, semi-shaky breath, trying to control her oxygen intake, lest it become erratic and heavy, and she experienced even worse pains.

They finished off their current group of enemies, but were caught off guard by an alarm that blazed through the base, different than the one they'd heard earlier. It hung in the air, sounding almost endless as it droned on and on, a harsh warning that something was coming… and it wasn't messing around.

And they already had a pretty good idea of just what that was.

"Don't panic." Zabuza spoke before any of them could even think to. "We're plenty deep inside. If anything, it's those farther up above that have to worry about them. Hopefully, by the time we're resurfacing, they've all moved on from those areas, and we can pass by without being spotted, with those two kids in tow."

The assassin was surprisingly good at keeping up morale, and whether that was a natural thing, or perhaps more thanks to his sort-of-son being present, Anko found no need to complain. Instead, she thought more about the man's words, finding a few flaws that she decidedly did not voice to the group.

For one, who was to say that the Akatsuki of all people didn't have an ability that would let them circumvent the tunnels? Hell, those two from before, Tobi and Zetsu, had managed to sneak their way into Danzo's abode without a soul noticing, and then gotten out without having to take a single one of the Leaf's own passageways. Either they'd made their own…

Or it was something else entirely. Something far more worrisome. Still, at the very least, Anko had a hard time believing that every single member would have those capabilities. Those two were likely a scouting party, working together to infiltrate and destroy their target while the others caused chaos.

Or, they might've been, were it not for every single member of the Akatsuki that they knew of being such heavy-hitters that they all basically functioned as one-man-armies. Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki may have fled from Jiraiya when they'd encountered the man, but the only person here with Sannin strength was Orochimaru, and Anko had a decent feeling the man wouldn't exactly be lending them a hand should trouble arise.

Plus, if they were going to get out of here, they were going to have to go out the way they'd come in, unless any of them had an earth jutsu as powerful as Tenzo's, and she knew for a fact that none of them did. Their chances of not running into a member of the Akatsuki when they did, while mathematically, high, seemed criminally low given their poor track record for avoiding life-threatening situations.

She felt a flash of pain from the back of her neck as her panic and fear flared up once more, and she forced herself to calm back down. Just because they _might _be dealing with some powerful ninja, didn't mean she could afford to lose herself to her old master's mark.

Ever since it'd been restarted by her… demise, so to speak, the mark had been making it's presence known again. It'd been a thorn in her side as a child, causing her aches and pains day in and day out, but now it was… different.

It was more like it had melded with her.

It responded to her feelings, much like Sakura had described her own mark when they'd discussed them. Her student had said it almost had a will all its own, and now Anko could see what the girl had meant. Her curse mark seemed to pick and choose its moments to influence her, waiting for her to be at her most vulnerable before striking.

She knew she couldn't exactly ignore it, but she also didn't have very many options at the current moment, and so she simply bit down on her cheek inside her mouth and waited for the pain to pass. An imperfect solution if ever there was one, but she'd take what she could get.

They passed through their current corridor and into a damp and cramped looking section of cells. It seemed to be a prison, perhaps meant for locking up experiments outside of the time they were actually being used. The thought made her sick to her stomach, remembering when she herself had been locked up in one of these very units.

She shook her head, deciding not to dwell on those thoughts. All the cells were empty, completely bereft of anything or anyone, though, notably, this looked like an area that hadn't been used in quite a while.

"I'm willing to bet this isn't the only one of these prison blocks." Zabuza spoke out. "We should be on the lookout for them as we make out way through. Inuzuka, you get anything yet?"

"Still nothing." Kiba called out, lightly rubbing his dogs head as it whimpered quietly atop his head. "There are just… so many different smells down here. Blood, and death, and decay, and a thousand other different things. Even I'm being overwhelmed. I can't even imagine what Akamaru's going through."

Zabuza nodded, seemingly understanding the complications the tiny canine was experiencing. They stepped through the area as calmly and as quietly as they could, trying to conserve as much energy as they could for the inevitable exit from the base, and any encounters that might entail.

At least, they attempted to until the walls began to shake.

It was a subtle feeling at first, a thing one barely noticed upon the tips of their toes. A light rocking as a bit of dust and debris fell from the ceiling. The shaking seemed to amplify a moment later, as the eight of them grabbed onto the nearby bars and held on, waiting for the quaking to pass.

Instead of fading, however, it seemed to only grow worse.

Naruto let out a small scream as a piece of the ceiling broke off, and nearly came down on the top of his head. He was probably the only one of them who could take something like that and keep on moving, though it was clear he had no plans to test that theory.

"W-what the hell!?" Dosu called out, gripping onto the wall and holding on for dear life. "What's with this shaking!?"

"Ooooh my god!" Kin kneeled on the ground, pressing her back up against the same wall Dosu held desperately onto. "Is it…?"

"Shit, an earthquake at a time like this!?" Zabuza called, looking all around him in what looked to be a rare panic from the man. "Anyone here know any Earth Jutsu!?"

"I've got one!" Anko admitted, turning to everyone, and holding out her hands. "I originally invented it to hide from pursuers, but, well, falling rocks are probably a pretty good thing to escape from as well."

She briefly explained what would happen to them as she raised her hand, and found a spot on the wall where all eight of them could fit perfectly next to each other.

"Dog kid, you hold onto the puppy, I don't know what'll happen to him if you don't!"

"G-gotcha!" Kiba called out in response, before he too braced against the stone behind him.

"Hidden Jutsu…" Anko breathed in, focusing her chakra and letting it flow between the eight of them. "Striking from Shadows!"

They flew into the wall, narrowly dodging more of the ceiling collapsing upon them.

Anko decided a few seconds later that being inside of a wall while an earthquake was on was oddly like being given a full body massage. She wasn't quite sure what, if anything, she would do with that information, but she also felt wiser for having it, so she wasn't complaining.

She also learned that it was terrifying in a very primal way, a lot like one felt a shiver up their spine when they saw movement out of the corner of their eye. She couldn't see anything, enveloped in the total darkness of the wall around her, so only experiencing the rocking through her skin, with nothing to base it off of via sight, scent, or sound made her a bit sick to her stomach as well.

It was easy enough to ignore the feeling, however, given that she was an experienced ninja. She was used to feeling more than a little uncomfortable from time to time.

_"Alright," _She called out to everyone still in the wall, and theoretically, they'd be able to hear her. Sakura had been able to, after all. _"Everyone present and accounted for?"_

_"Wait, we can talk in here!?" _Naruto's voice echoed out, followed almost immediately by a surprised gasp from the boy. _"Helloooo! This is your conscience! You should eat more ramen!"_

Anko smiled at the boy's antics, even as she listened to him get yelled at by Zabuza for not taking things seriously enough. Honestly, though, she couldn't help but look at Naruto's ability to find levity in almost any situation as a boon, rather than a bane.

They popped back out of the wall a minute or two later, after the shaking had stopped, and found almost immediately that the halls they'd taken to get in here were irrecoverably different.

"Well…" Zabuza spoke as he looked back towards the entrance-way, where a couple of rather impossibly heavy stones completely closed off their path.

"We'll be needing to find another way out, then."

/-/

Sasuke ran through the dank and decaying hallways with a fervor he hadn't felt in quite a while. He wasn't sure where he was going, to be honest, and he wasn't sure what he was going to do when he arrived at his destination, either. Really, he was running because he wasn't quite sure what else he could do, other than try and reach Sakura as fast as possible.

Hopefully, before the Akatsuki got there.

He didn't think they'd have any business with the girl, after all, she was merely a leaf Genin, who happened to be the test subject of Orochimaru. If they'd wanted her for some scheme, or needed her dead for whatever reason thanks to the Wood Style, then they'd have done that when they'd encountered her during their assassination of Danzo.

Well, it was easy enough to tell himself that, and a bit harder to actually put that logic into practice.

He passed by multiple sound ninja on his way there, though, a bit surprisingly, not a single one bothered to stop him, nor even tried. Evidently, any orders that might've been related to keeping their prisoners in check were null and void under these circumstances.

In that singular regard, he had to thank the Akatsuki. It made getting to Sakura much, much easier.

After perhaps forty-five minutes of running and ducking and dodging through corridors, he stumbled into a lab that looked vaguely familiar. He hadn't been knocked out when Kabuto had taken him to his prison cell, but the man had been honest about saying they'd be moving Sakura to a different location. He'd tried retracing his steps to get to where they'd been experimenting on the girl at first, but true to Kabuto's word, nothing had remained.

This lab, however, looked to bear more fruit than the previous one. For one, the lights were still on, and the heavy, incandescent bulbs emanated a white light that was almost too clean, giving off a strangely intimidating air to the area as he stepped inside, despite it being fully lit.

There were no guards, and normally that would've made him feel even more nervous. Now, however, it was a godsend, for at the back of the room, strapped down to a bed and with a massive metal collar locked onto her neck, Sakura laid completely still.

He dashed towards her, covering the distance in perhaps half a second. He immediately scanned her body for injuries and found more than a few near her curse mark. The skin was flared and red, almost as if it had been irritated continuously, but there were also multiple tiny, nearly invisible holes from what Sasuke could only imagine were countless injections.

He breathed out his anger, deciding that now was perhaps not the time for it. He could make these people pay for what they'd done to his friend later, right now, his priority needed to be getting her the hell out of here.

He reached down and began unlatching the girl's straps, one by one, until the only remaining chain was the collar around her neck. He wasn't quite sure how to remove that, but he decided to look around the room a bit first, just to see if he could find anything that might unlock it. One small search later, and one suspicious looking key gained, he walked back towards the girl's sleeping form and tried fitting the key into the metal piece on her neck. It unlatched with a loud noise, which seemed to startle the kunoichi below him, for she moaned slightly in her sleep, apparently being more than a little out of it.

He reached down and lightly shook her, trying to get her to wake up.

"Hey, Sakura…" He called to her, and still received no response. "Wake-"

His neck was being squeezed far, far too hard as Sakura's arm picked him up and held him aloft. He began to choke immediately as the girl's eyes flung open, and she turned towards him with a growl.

Guilt was the first, and perhaps only thing that appeared on her face after that, for she dropped him after perhaps half a second, letting him fall to the floor and gasp for air.

He coughed for a good minute, just trying to regain feeling in his neck, and steady his breathing. The entire time, Sakura stepped back and away from him, covering her mouth with one hand as if she were about to vomit. He wanted to comfort her, tell her this wasn't her fault, but he couldn't, on account that he still couldn't breathe.

When he'd finally managed to regain control of his airways, he looked up towards the girl, who was hyperventilating in the corner of the room, unable to meet his eye.

He stepped towards her gently, trying not to provoke her in any way. He wanted to believe Kabuto's words, that the girl really was exactly the same as she'd been before… but…

It was Sakura who reacted first, barreling towards him and slamming her head into his chest. He initially thought it to be an attack of some sort, though he realized a second later that the girl was merely trying to hug him, wrapping her arms around his waist and sobbing loudly into his shirt.

He didn't particularly mind. He was just happy to see her.

"I'm sorry…" She choked out between sobs. "I didn't know, I… I was just so scared, and you… I'm sorry!"

He didn't quite know how to handle the situation, but he also felt like honesty could, in this case, be the best policy.

"It's fine. I understand." He tried to reassure the devastated girl in his arms, wrapping his own around her as well. "You didn't know it was me. You're fine."

Sakura pushed off of him a second later, wiping away at her eyes and sniffling slightly. He felt like she'd cut the moment off a bit quicker than she usually would've, but when she looked up at him with eyes of steel, he understood what she was doing.

"So, what's going on?" She asked him. "I mean… how did you get here? I kind of figured Naruto would get us both individually."

"Same here." He admitted. "Kabuto let me out once the base was under attack. Apparently, he likes the three of us."

Sakura arched an eyebrow, her face finally beginning to return to a normal color from the bloated red it had been while she was crying and panicked.

"Not quite sure what to make of that."

"Neither am I, to be honest." He gestured towards the door he'd taken to get in. "C'mon, we should get out of here before-"

It seemed the universe had a truly sick sense of timing, for the moment he began opening his mouth, a horribly shaking began once more in the base, and pebbles began falling from the ceiling once more, breaking off and causing him to worry quite profusely. He turned back towards Sakura with a newfound haste.

"Let's go!"

The girl nodded, and they dashed back towards the door. Unfortunately, before they could make it there, the opening cracked and collapsed, spilling out across the floor, and blocking off all passage out of the room.

The shaking didn't stop, and the very back of the room collapsed as well, dropping hundreds of pounds of rocks on the bed where Sakura had previously been laying, utterly destroying the cot, and leading the girl to swallow nervously.

"Thank god I didn't take a right back there." Sasuke muttered under his breath.

The kunoichi beside him could only nod.

"I… I can't clear that." Sasuke admitted honestly, turning back towards Sakura with a grim face. "Can you? You've got those earth jutsu, right?"

She shook her head, biting down on her bottom lip and seeming to consider something for a moment.

"They wouldn't be able to budge this, but… but I have something else that might be able to."

He tried to make eye contact, but she avoided his gaze as she stepped towards the wreckage, and black marks coursed across her skin like fire. They continued long past where he'd grown used to them stopping before, and Sakura let out a hiss of pain as the darkness fully enveloped her body, turning her skin a grayish-purple, and lengthening her hair until it touched the ground beneath her. Wings that looked like hands sprung from her back, and she wound herself tightly like a coil, biding her strength into a tiny ball.

She unleashed it just a moment later, springing forward and utterly annihilating the rock before her, blasting it away and revealing the entrance before them once more. She looked away embarresedly as she stepped through the gap, letting her transformation fade somewhat from her body. A bit surprisingly, and worryingly as well, he noticed that her hair was still a bit longer than it'd been before. Not quite as long as when they were children, but about halfway between then and her normal hair-length.

_Is the transformation… affecting her outside her use of the Curse mark!?_

He walked straight up to her, ready to interrogate her on what was going on, before the girl suddenly went white as a sheet, pulling him with both hands back into the room and slamming him against the wall. She held a hand over his mouth as well, keeping him as silent as she could.

He had no idea what it was that scared her so thoroughly, but he heard it just a moment later, voices, echoing out from just beyond them.

"Still, Itachi," An all too familiar voice called out, sounding oddly cheerful for a man exterminating hundreds if not thousands of lives. "I've gotta' say, I just don't see the point in being that dreary all the time."

His brother, or at least, Sasuke assumed it must've been his brother beside the man, even if he couldn't see him, said not a word. The sound of footfalls was the only noise the other Uchiha gave in response to Kisame's statement.

"I mean," There was a horrid scream, and evidently a guard had tried to get in the two's way, for the sound of a body crumbling to the floor a moment later echoed out through the near empty halls. "I can't see how that's a good time for you. Like, just buy up a whorehouse or something. We all know you don't spend your shares on jack, why not?"

Once more, his brother said nothing, and though the small insight into the bastard's life was puzzling, he had no time to reflect on any of the information he'd gleamed. He was far too concerned with the duo hearing them and coming to investigate.

…Luckily, it seemed like their hiding place was good enough, for the two passed them by without any real note, taking a hall perhaps twenty feet to their right and walking down it. If Sasuke was right, then they were descending further into the base. Their objective, Kabuto had sort of told him, was to kill Orochimaru and his agents, but still…

_Why the hell are they here right now!? _He couldn't help but scream at the universe once more as Sakura finally removed her hand from his mouth, still holding her breath despite her face growing blue. _Why the hell would they show up now, directly in our path!?_

He supposed that was just his luck.

Sakura finally breathed out, exhaling and inhaling deliberately slowly so that she'd make as little noise as possible. Sasuke did the same, finding his lungs practically gasping for air by the time it came to refill them. The two of them stood without a word, and evidently, they both had the same idea to communicate nonverbally for a time.

_Go left? _Sasuke signalled, gesturing towards the opposite direction from where those two had gone.

Sakura shook her head.

_Left, dead end. _She made a walking figure with her one hand, before putting up her other hand as a wall.

_Right, up, out. _She signaled_, _pointing towards the path the two Akatsuki had taken to get here.

He nodded, despite wanting to get about as far from those two as he possibly could. Still, it wasn't like following the route those two had taken was a bad idea. If anything, it'd probably be both quicker and more secure, given that he didn't think they'd have left anyone behind in their wake. There'd certainly be no guards if they retraced their steps.

They stepped out from their little hidey-hole, walking cautiously and stealthily towards the hallway that led up. When they arrived, they found a stairway lit by candlelight, and the flames danced in just the right way for the passage to be completely unsettling.

Sasuke let out a small groan of discomfort as they began to ascend the steps, trying not to let the shadows which pranced along the walls beside them play tricks on his mind. As the silence grew, he found himself wanting to question the girl on her curse marks new form, but the question died on the tip of his tongue. There was a better time and place to ask those questions than in the middle of a warzone.

_Welp… Guess we don't have much of a choice._

As they traveled up the clammy steps, however, there was only one thought on Sasuke's mind…

_Where the heck is Naruto?_

/-/

Naruto was doing his best to not get killed at that very moment, which was going so-so, though, admittedly, a bit worse than it'd been going a few minutes prior.

That was largely thanks to the fact that everyone was starting to get pretty tired.

It was an exponential effect, or, at least, Naruto was pretty sure that was what that word meant. Basically, the more tired they were, the worse their performance got.

_Is that right? _Naruto wondered quietly, briefly distracted from the action before him. _Y'know what,_ _I should probably think about this later._

He snapped back to reality, dodging underneath what must've been the thousandth soldiers' sword. He punched the man straight in his stomach and knocked him backwards. The man didn't crumble like some of his compatriots had, instead, he whirled back around, using the momentum from being pushed backwards to complete his next swing, and nearly taking Naruto's legs out from under him.

He himself narrowly jumped over the blade and used the downwards momentum for himself this time, slamming his connected hands on the top of the man's head, and watching as his entire body fell limp to the floor.

_I'm actually getting pretty good at this whole combat thing. _Naruto smiled to himself as he turned back towards the rest of his unit, and realized that they were dealing with about fifteen more of Orochimaru's minions. _Oh, c'mon! Do they grow on trees!?_

They mopped up the last of the henchmen, before descending further into the compound. It wasn't that long before they encountered another group of soldiers, and Naruto took a deep breath, preparing to have to face off once more with another danged group of them…

Until the 10 or so men ran right past them, screaming as they did.

"What the hell is that thing!?"

"It's not human!"

_Just one time, _Naruto thought as they faced the way the soldiers had run from, taking battle stances, and awaiting whatever it was they'd been panicked about. _Just one time I'd like to just fight soldiers, y'know. Like, not having to deal with any super-powerful Jonin, or Akatsuki guys, or giant snakes…_

Naruto was really growing tired of snakes.

The figure that rounded the corner was an enigma if Naruto had ever seen one. It was… deathly pale, to start. It's skin looked almost bloodless, with multiple black rods sticking in and out of it. As it turned towards them, he got his first look at its eyes.

They were purple and… seemingly ringed. They looked almost like an odd sort of cross between the Byakugan and the Sharingan, but saying that alone wouldn't have been enough to describe them. They were more complicated than that.

He didn't have any time to worry about something on the surface level, however, for Zabuza had stepped in front of the eight of them, him most specifically, drawing Naruto behind his body in an effort to block him from sight, likely trying to obscure the Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki. The assassin drew his blade off of his back and pointed it towards the 'man' who stood before them.

"Akatsuki." Zabuza called to him, and it was a testament to just how odd the man's face was that he hadn't even noticed the red and black patterned cloak. "Identify yourself or die."

The figure across from them said nothing, except for hold his hand out in front of him, and literally rip the limb off, revealing what looked to be a few dozen small canisters hidden beneath the flesh.

Naruto tried not to vomit, but soon had much, much more serious things to worry about, for the missiles, because of course they were missiles, fired off from their link, aiming directly at them and coming in at high speed.

Naruto's eyes went wide, before a figure jumped in front of the both of them and slammed his hands down upon the ground.

"Ice Release: Ice Wall!"

A few pillars of white ice shot up from the ground, narrowly blocking off the pathway from the explosive force of the incoming bombs. Before Haku could relax, Zabuza had grabbed both him and Naruto by their collars, and hauled them back down the corridor. The rest of the group followed suit, for the icy wall that was set to block the missiles had given under the explosive power, which Naruto supposed made sense in a really shitty kind of way.

They landed perhaps twenty feet back, panting slightly as shards of ice scattered along the ground around them, already beginning to melt away from the heat of the explosion. Naruto didn't have time to thank the Jonin above him before the man charged back in, drawing his blade around and pointing it forward. He jumped directly into the black smoke, followed quickly by Anko, who looked even angrier than she'd been a few minutes prior.

Both were launched back out of the smokescreen a second later, Anko clutching her left arm, and Zabuza skidding across the floor, barely retaining control of his giant cleaver as he looked back at the now dissipating black haze.

When it cleared, the rest of them could see the problem. Two more figures, who looked very much like missile-hand-man, had arrived. One was a bit heftier, walking forward and taking what looked to be a defensive stance in front of the others, while the third, who had long orange hair that partially covered his right eye, stepped back, apparently the most vulnerable of the three.

"Shit…" Anko called under her breath. "Yo, Assassin, can we take three!?"

"No." Zabuza called back to her. "We most certainly cannot. If they're all S-ranked, then I want no part of engaging three of them at the same time."

Naruto couldn't help but think that was wise, but he was a bit concerned as to what they were actually going to do in regards to getting out of there.

He asked as much and received only a small chuckle from the two Jonin in front of him.

"Simple." Anko said, drawing an object out from her tool bag and holding it in front of her. "We throw a flash bomb, and then we run the hell away."

/-/

Tsunade read the notice in front of her as calmly as she could, trying not to let the fear in her heart lead her to crumbling the parchment in her grip.

Jiraiya looked worriedly towards her, but she ignored him for the time being. She didn't need him fretting for her right this second. Neither, really, did she need Shizune hanging over her shoulder, trying to pretend like she wasn't also reading the note before them, massaging her shoulders in an effort to keep her calm.

It was an effort she would've normally appreciated, but now… now it was only adding to her stresses.

"The Akatsuki are attacking Orochimaru's base." She summarized the note before her, crumpling the thing in her hands now that she'd finished reading it. "They're surrounding it and purging it clean, and our people are stuck inside."

"Who even sent that note?" Jiraiya asked, looking at her a bit suspiciously. "You said it was unmarked, do you recognize the handwriting, or…?"

"I don't, but I also can't afford to doubt its authenticity right now. We know the Akatsuki are after the Jinchuuriki for whatever reason, and right now, our Jinchuuriki just so happens to be right at the spot of the Akatsuki's attack?" Tsunade let out a hopeless sort of laugh. "It seems like just the kind of rotten luck that I'm accustomed to." She pounded her fist on the desk below her, instantly breaking the wooden structure straight down the middle. "DAMNIT! I knew I should've stopped him! Now he's… he's…!"

Jiraiya stepped forward.

"I'll go. I can get there quickly, and then-"

"And then what, take on the whole Akatsuki by yourself!?" Tsunade screamed at him, berating his brash foolishness with more firmness than was perhaps necessary. "I…" She slapped herself on her forehead, trying to calm her fraying nerves. "Sorry. You will be going, believe me, but only after we've assembled as strong a team as we can. The situation had changed. This isn't just a search and rescue mission, this is an S-Ranked Search and rescue mission, and only the very best could even hope to go."

Jiraiya nodded, stepping backwards, and giving her full authority over the situation. She'd always appreciated his ability to get serious when it mattered, though she felt she could fairly criticize his usual persona.

"When will Kakashi be back?" She asked first of all, turning back towards Shizune, who held in her hands the full registry of the Leaf's ninjas, and their current missions. "If it's soon, then…"

"The registry tells that he _could _be back within the day, theoretically." Shizune spoke, but the look on her face told Tsunade it wouldn't exactly be that simple. "But he was on an S-ranked mission himself, annihilating an entire drug cartel almost on his own… there's a good chance he won't return for a week or more."

She bit down on one of her painted nails, chipping it almost instantly with the force she was using.

_Think… Think you idiot! _She shouted at herself. _I won't lose him too… I refuse to lose another person after all this time, I'll save him, I have to!_

"Someone talking about me?"

The door opened up, and Tsunade looked up at Kakashi Hatake with a look of such utter thankfulness that the man actually blushed.

"Er… hello?"

"Situation!" She shouted, jolting the man slightly as she began running through combinations she could utilize with the ninjas still present in the village in her head. "The Akatsuki are going after Orochimaru!"

The man tilted his head slightly, seemingly trying to recall why such a thing would be something they'd have to deal with, before his single revealed eye widened to the size of a dinner plate, and he shot forward, standing next to Jiraiya, and looking at her with a fire in his gaze that she was fairly sure she'd never seen from him in all her days.

"When are we going!?"

**End Chapter 50**

* * *

**Things. Things. Also things.**

**Nothing to say.**

**See you next week!**


	51. Chapter 51

**Hallo.**

**Without further ado... I'm tired. Sorry, got nothing this week.**

* * *

**Chapter 51: From Bad...**

* * *

"Get down, Naruto!"

Naruto followed the Jonin's advice, ducking just as a massive centipede flew over his head, slamming into the wall just off to his left and ceasing to move. Based on the massive crack he'd just heard, he could only assume the beast had killed itself on impact.

He took a chance and looked back behind him. He saw a few remaining members of his group, namely Zaku and Kin, holding up the rear, and he looked even further back, to where one of the three from earlier still held up its pursuit. It was the long-haired one, who they'd discovered was apparently a summoner, for he never stopped bringing out more and more outlandish creatures.

Luckily, the man couldn't bring out anything too large, for the top of the chamber was only around fifteen feet off the ground. Even the centipede, which Naruto hazarded to guess was one of the smaller things in the man's arsenal, couldn't really maneuver. It launched itself in one direction and just sort of hoped it'd hit something.

Which was a bit sad when he thought about it further.

The creature, which Naruto had at first thought dead, disappeared, turning to white smoke as it was de-summoned. He finally allowed himself to take a breath, cursing his own dumb wish from earlier.

_When I said 'anything but snakes', I sort of also meant that I didn't feel like dealing with anything both **creepier and crawlier**__!_

They watched as the man chasing them, seemingly reconsidering his actions without his massive centipede, pulled back away. He withdrew without so much as a word, and Naruto realized a second later that none of the odd-looking men had said so much as a word to any of them.

A small shiver went down his spine at that, but he couldn't afford to stop. They still had a pair of Genin to retrieve.

On that particular front, however, it seemed they finally had some luck.

"Akamaru's got something!"

Naruto turned towards Kiba, who stood near the front of the group, helping to guide Zabuza on their route through the tunnels, and watched as the dog atop the boy's head barked incessantly, apparently communicating something important to his master below. Kiba nodded a few times, before looking to the rest of them, and relaying the information.

"Sasuke's smell isn't too far! It's faint, but at the very least, he's been nearby here within a few hours!" The beast-master grinned wildly. "We're getting close!"

Naruto couldn't help but smile himself.

_Just you wait, Sasuke, Sakura! _He mentally swore once more. _I'm coming, I promise!_

As they kept moving through the compound, now hot on the trail of Sasuke, or, at least, on where he'd been fairly recently, Naruto couldn't help but think back to their time in the Leaf Village.

He'd grown so complacent in his happiness.

It was an odd statement, and one, he assumed, most people wouldn't have had to make. But Naruto had been alone for the first nine years of his life. Sure, he'd had the Third Hokage, but even he had been a passing presence, coming to and fro at his leisure. Naruto hadn't seen him very often. it wasn't until he'd met Sasuke that his life had suddenly gotten so terribly bright.

He could sort of see what Sasuke meant, when he said that having friendships, having bonds, could interfere with one's dreams. Theoretically, he should've been training every day, day in and day out, in order to become Hokage. And yet, he never wanted to do any of that. He wanted to talk, and laugh, and goof around with the friends he'd made. He'd started to realize recently that, perhaps, becoming the Hokage had only been a secondary goal. He'd always known making everyone in the village acknowledge him was a part of his goal, but it may've been his true goal after all.

He'd been unable to achieve exactly that, so far, but nowadays... he wasn't sure if it was necessary.

He'd already found his happiness, his acknowledgement. He'd found a best friend and a brother in Sasuke, and good friends in Sakura, Ino, and everyone else they'd met along the way. The sorrow he felt when he flicked on the lights in his house, and found it empty... It wasn't quite so horrible, anymore. It was now only a brief tenure into darkness, one that was always pushed away when he got to see them all the next day.

But Orochimaru... he was threatening that. He was trying to steal away the happiness that Naruto had earned for himself...

And that wasn't something Naruto was going to allow.

_I won't return to those times when I had no one... _Naruto promised himself, charging forward and overtaking Anko and Dosu, jogging lightly just behind Zabuza, and Kiba. _I'll bring the both of you back, and we'll all..._

_We'll all spend our days together! We won't be alone!_

They descended further into the compound, despite knowing that such a thing may be a death sentence. They had no real earth specialist, so going further into a base that was in the process of collapsing could easily get them all killed. One bigger breakdown, a few tunnels clogged, and that was it. They were stuck down there.

He pushed those thoughts out of his mind. He may've had quite shitty luck when it came to moment-to-moment happenings, but he had a fairly decent overall luck. Getting paired up with Sasuke and Sakura, getting Kakashi as their leader, having the Nine-tails bail him and Sasuke out of Haku's attacks, and have everyone there live to tell about it...

_Ok, so, **recently**, my luck's been pretty terrible. _Naruto admitted with a slight incline of his head_. I mean, my friends were kidnapped, and tortured and stuff,_ _But I'm sure things will turn around here sometime soo-_

The tunnel directly behind them gave into the weight hanging above it, sending giant rocks down just where they'd been before, and cutting off one of the precious few ways back to the surface.

Naruto gulped.

_Or maybe not._

"That's less than optimal." Zabuza admitted, a rare show of worry from the normally unflappable man. Apparently, he didn't like the prospect of being buried alive anymore than he did. "Well, then…"

They looked ahead, where several different paths seemed to head down in opposite directions, presumably taking them to different parts of the compound. Zabuza observed them for a moment before, with a small sigh, he made a declaration.

"Alright, we split up."

Naruto's eyes widened as he turned towards the man, and saw similar expressions on the rest of the groups faces.

"Oh, calm down, I'm not saying individually." The assassin outlined. "We split into three groups. I take Haku. Naruto and those three go together, and then Mitarashi and the Inuzuka team up. It's the best option we've got for finding those idiots and still surviving afterwards."

Naruto didn't like it; in fact, he rather hated the idea. That didn't make it less valid, however. Splitting up was, in a vacuum, a rather good plan.

…And yet he spoke up anyways.

"What if we run into more guards?" Naruto questioned the man's idea, causing everyone to turn towards him in varying states of surprise. "As a singular group, they're not gonna' be able to handle us, but if we're all apart… they're way more scary."

He stepped up towards Zabuza, not undermining the man's idea, but proposing his own solution.

"We shouldn't split into three groups… if you're so convinced we need to split up, then each group should have a Jonin." He met the assassin's eyes, seeing the way Zabuza regarded him, though unable to quite identify just what it was that the other man was feeling. "If we encountered an Akatsuki member, then we wouldn't stand a chance if it were just me and those guys!"

Zabuza's eyes widened, before the man took a step back, breathing deeply as he looked back down at Naruto, smiling from underneath the bandages adorning his face.

"Man, why do I have to get outshone by some damned kid?"

"Eh?"

"You're right. I was being hasty." He smirked. "It's been an awful long while… actually, this is the first time I've ever had Genin with me on a mission. I guess I forgot you're all small fry."

Naruto tried not to take offense to that. He was fairly sure the man hadn't even meant that to be mean, either. He was just being honest.

Blunt, but honest.

"Alright, we follow Naruto's plan." Zabuza spoke, turning back towards Anko and Inuzuka. "Haku and I have worked together enough to know our moves front to back, so we'll go it alone. The rest of you, form up as one unit."

Naruto let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding, feeling a weight off his shoulders. Not only had Zabuza not yelled at him, but he'd listened to his plan, recognizing the flaws in his own, and adapting it.

_I guess that's a Jonin for you._

They regrouped, and Zabuza pointed towards the right-most path for them to run down. They themselves would take the left-most path.

He also took out his sword and marked his pathway with it, before instructing Anko to slice a small part out of their own path with her kunai.

"In case we end up back here," The man explained. "We'll want to know we've been here before. You should keep that up as you head further in as well, I don't know about you, but I don't think I'd be able to remember my way around these halls if we're taking every single turn. Plus, if we end up in an area that the other group's already gone down, we'll know by the mark." The rest of them nodded as the man turned back around. "Mark the way back a no-go as well, just so we don't get mixed up."

Haku carved an 'x' into the wall that faced back towards the collapsed tunnel, before they all approached their entrances, a certain dread hanging over every one of them.

"Alright people," Zabuza called out to them. "Still not one for speeches, so… I'll keep it simple…"

Naruto braced himself.

"Don't any of you dare get killed."

/-/

Sasuke found himself growing a bit fearful as they snuck through the bowels of Orochimaru's base.

It wasn't for an obvious reason, either. There were no guards blocking their path or trying to attack them. There was no one pursuing them as they stalked the empty pathways, nor did they run into any signs of anyone, other than the occasional corpse of a sound ninja, who must've run into Kisame and Itachi on the two's way down.

No, what was truly getting to Sasuke was the silence.

Primarily because it wasn't _exactly_ silence. There was a certain grating to the world that was beginning to drive him insane. A small, almost unnoticeable rumbling, as if not just the base surrounding them, but the very core of the earth beneath them was shaking. The sounds of combat, likewise, seemed to lurk on the very edge of his hearing, registering only as an almost ethereal whisper, a creeping dread threatening to bleed into his psyche.

He forced himself to focus on the figure just in front of him. Sakura was leading their little escape plan, primarily because if they ran into a blocked off passageway, then it was she who'd be blowing it up with her new curse marks power.

A power he was still overwhelmingly cautious of.

They didn't have the choice of whether or not to use it, however. Without it, they'd have already been trapped back in that lap, caught kicking and screaming against earthen walls as the ceiling collapsed in on them.

He shuddered noticeably at the prospect of being buried alive. Sasuke didn't exactly consider himself claustrophobic, but he wasn't a fan of things taking up his personal space, either, so the idea of being surrounded on all sides, being unable to move his arms or legs as his life was slowly choked out of him…

_Maybe I should think about this later. _Sasuke wisely cut himself off. _Follow-up thought, I should think about this never._

It wasn't that long before they came across a collapsed tunnel, and Sakura was up. He cleared the way for the girl as her ghoulish transformation engulfed her, and she shouted as her fist connected with the rock before her, sending it flying down the corridor, but freeing some space for them to move.

As they passed by, the ceiling collapsed once more, re-sealing the exit back behind them. Sasuke didn't terribly mind, since they could just clear the way again, but he also didn't know how much they could afford to mess with the structural integrity of the surrounding area before they caused a bigger collapse, one they couldn't clear with Sakura's strength.

They walked for a while, just trying to be as careful as possible about their chosen route, until they came upon a mysterious phenomenon.

A light at the end of their tunnel.

"Sakura!"

"I see it!"

They ran forward, now revitalized by the prospect of escaping Orochimaru's lair, but what they found at the end of their short journey was a bit different than what Sasuke had been expecting.

It wasn't an exit. It was a hole.

Hole was an understatement, however. It wasn't as if there was a small opening that led up to the sky above them, allowing some light to peek through. It was a chasm the size of the Hokage building.

The massive rift looked to have been literally ripped out of the ground, and, from the way no flora or fauna hung to the dirt sticking out of the ground, Sasuke assumed it had been rather recent as well. He strained his eyes slightly, activating his Sharingan and looking towards the other side of the gap, and noticed tunnels just like the one they were in.

His eyes widened as he realized just what this was. This hadn't been an attack, nor, truly, had it been meant to destroy the base surrounding them.

Someone, presumably, a member of the Akatsuki, had literally ripped hundreds of tons of earth out of the ground, and they'd done it just to give their troops a surprise entrance.

He turned back to look down their own passage, and grimaced slightly as he recognized a bloodstain on the floor below him. Unfortunately, it seemed that whoever had been in this general area when the ground had been ripped apart hadn't been able to get out of the way in time.

But it also gave him a pretty good hypothesis for how Itachi and Kisame had gotten in.

"Those two utilized the hole and entered through here." Sasuke spoke to Sakura beside him, who was gazing up at the sky, almost as if she were birdwatching. "That'd be why there weren't that many bodies in the way, either. It wasn't like they had time to mount a defense, those two got to start their mission halfway through the base already."

Sakura nodded, but her focus was still oddly on the skies above them. He followed her gaze, looking up himself, and found what looked to be an odd white bird floating high in the skies above them.

"Huh." Sakura spoke. "You see that too, right?"

"Yeah, I see it." Sasuke remarked casually. "Maybe it's a good omen. I don't know about you, but I don't think I would've been all that eager to see a crow."

Sakura nodded with a small breath of laughter, before turning to the walls beside them and placing her hands on them.

"We can climb out from here." The girl spoke as she gripped onto the wall with her chakra, beginning to scale it already. "The real problem now… is how do we contact Naruto and everyone else?"

He thought for a moment on that as well, but couldn't quite help but focus on the bird hanging above them. Perhaps he was overly paranoid, but he couldn't quite shake the feeling something was terribly off about it.

"Hey, Sakura?"

"Yeah?"

"How big is the largest naturally occurring bird in the world?"

"Er… I don't really know off the top of my head. I'm guessing you mean excluding summons?"

"Yeah. How big is your average bird?"

"I don't know, a couple of meters from tip to tip… maybe twelve feet at the maximum?"

_That's funny… _Sasuke mused to himself.

_The one above us is almost twice that if my math's correct._

What had started as a neat little thing was now growing more and more insidious in the corner of Sasuke's brain. He reached out without even meaning to and grabbed onto Sakura's arm. The girl looked a bit annoyedly at him, presumably from almost breaking her climb.

"S-sasuke? What are you-"

The bird above them circled on contiuously, almost ominously now. He focused hard with his Sharingan, watching for anything remotely odd about the avian form, until at last, he spotted something.

A man, riding atop the beast.

Said man noticed them at the exact same moment.

Sasuke didn't waste another second. He grabbed onto Sakura's arm and pulled her off the wall, supporting her entire weight in his arms as he dashed back into their tunnel from earlier. He turned his head around, despite Sakura's confused prattling, to see an object hurtling towards the two of them at high speeds.

He heard a distant yell, as if someone, very far away, had enthusiastically shouted something at the top of their lungs.

…And then the hallway behind them exploded.

It was a rather extreme explosion too, at least compared to some of the others Sasuke had seen. It radiated a potent heat as he jumped the two of them away from it, one that nearly singed the hairs right off his skull. They landed in a heap some way's away, panting with adrenaline and exhaustion as yet another thing screwed them over today.

"What…" Sakura breathed heavily, forcing herself out of his hold as she looked back at the now collapsed exit. "What the hell was that!?"

"That bird from earlier," Sasuke commented, sounding just as winded, but perhaps a bit more collected than Sakura. "There was a guy riding on top of it, and he spotted us on the outside. I wasn't willing to risk the chance that he was an enemy, so I pulled us back in."

They both gazed at the collapsed tunnel, and even now, debris still clattered along the floors, tiny pebbles dancing and causing rippling echoes in the small space.

"Probably for the best." Sakura muttered matter-of-factly.

"Yeah." Sasuke wiped away at his forehead, clearing it of some of the sweat, dirt, and grime that covered it. "Still, you heard him shout, right? With powers like that… long range explosives and an ability to keep himself cordoned off from everyone else by flying above the battlefield… That guy might be an Akatsuki."

Sakura swallowed, and Sasuke felt like he could understand where the girl was coming from.

He'd been hoping that Kisame and Itachi were the only two members of the Akatsuki present, which would've certainly made their exit easier. Now, though…

It was looking a hell of a lot more likely that there were at least four members here, seeing as how the Akatsuki worked almost exclusively in two man groups, which also meant there could easily be more than that.

"What's the plan?" Sakura deferred to him, turning back towards the cave-in from earlier, which they'd knocked out of the way to get here. "Just demolish that and get back to searching?"

"Not sure if we have any other options." Sasuke answered honestly.

Sakura did just that, clearing the way once more and allowing them to pass by underneath. Unfortunately, the tunnel gave a rumble quite like the earthquake from earlier (which Sasuke was now beginning to believe hadn't been an earthquake at all), and completely collapsed. It wasn't clearable anymore, either, for it wasn't a few boulders that blocked their path, but a veritable mountain of dirt.

"Well…" Sasuke sighed out, having been thinking, a bit foolishly, that certainly nothing else could go wrong today.

"No going back that way."

/-/

Kabuto was doing his very best to stay calm. He didn't particularly care about anyone in the base, aside from perhaps Orochimaru himself, but he knew there was a high likelihood the man didn't quite value his life in any way.

So, he was sort of resigned to getting out of the base on his own.

He made for the twenty-third hidden exit, trying to come out a few miles from the town by taking one of the more obscure underground tunnels. The passage ran a good half-mile underneath the base, and was, theoretically, the safest of all of Orochimaru's escape routes.

It was, of course, collapsed when he arrived.

He let out a titanic sigh, before resigning himself to taking the twenty-fourth and final tunnel out of the base. Unfortunately, said tunnel was on the exact other side of the compound, over a mile and a half west.

He tried not to think about that as he dashed through the now empty corridors, looking down at the numerous bodies of his 'comrades' as he pushed himself foward. Luckily, running that far wasn't exactly a big deal, and he could flicker for small distances. The problem was that the tunnels were rather narrow, and had been created on purpose to be confusing and hard to navigate.

Now that he was forced to navigate them quickly and fearful of his life, he couldn't quite help wanting to strangle the architect to death.

He crossed into a more wide open space, which he immediately recognized as one of a multitude of cafeterias, and ran into two figures who he could say with fair certainty were the last people he'd wanted to see.

"Oh, look!" Kisame Hoshigaki exclaimed, turning towards his partner with a wide, toothy grin. "A survivor! I'd been getting kind of bored."

"I'm sure you have." Itachi Uchiha murmured quietly, not even bothering to slow his pace as the two of them kept walking towards him. "You don't seem to find enjoyment in anything else."

"Hey, you enjoy torturing your brother for fun, I like killing dudes." Kisame spoke, raising his sword and preparing to bring it down on Kabuto. "I don't judge you, you don't judge me, fair?"

Kabuto blocked the incoming blow, but the force of the strike sent him sliding back along the floor, impacting softly against the wall just beside the door. He took a deep breath and steadied his heartrate. He was going to need it in check.

Kisame looked impressed.

"Oh, shit." The man seemed oddly pleased. "We might actually have a fighter."

He looked at Itachi's legs, avoiding the man's Sharingan at all costs. Still, from what he could see, the Uchiha was staring right at him, but for what reason, Kabuto didn't know.

"Wait." The man said a moment later. "Silver hair, glasses… He might be the one Sasori was looking for."

_Sasori!? _Kabuto reacted slightly, his left foot taking a more defensive stance almost against his will. _What the hell, that's a blast from the past in the worst kind of way!_

"Oh, really?" Kisame sounded disappointed. "Does that mean I can't kill him?"

"Well, we still need to bring him back to Sasori," The Uchiha beside him spoke out in a bored manner. "And from his stance, he doesn't seem like he'll be going willingly."

"Ohoh! Then I get to beat him into submission?"

Kabuto took a single step back, weighing his options with a seed of fear firmly planted in his heart.

"Sure." Itachi leaned against the back wall, content to leave the two of them to their devises.

"Go ahead."

/-/

Naruto charged along in front of their group, eager to be the first person to spot Sasuke or Sakura, in the event that they ran into either of them.

They did, indeed, run into someone, but it wasn't exactly who they'd hoped for.

"Oh, c'mon!" Naruto screamed as another set of missiles exploded behind him, slapping at the cloak around his body to keep it from being engulfed by the flames that nipped at it's tips. "Can we just go a few minutes without running into this bastard!?"

Anko appeared to be feeling quite similarly, for she wore an enraged expression as she ducked into the man's guard. She struck with her kunai, cutting into the man's stomach and slashing across, a move which would've normally separated the explosive-ridden Akatsuki from his intestines.

No such thing happened. The only occurrence was a flap of cloak falling away, exposing a metal piece beneath it that looked to be some sort of control panel. Naruto realized in an instant that the thing before them was neither man nor beast, but machine.

Or, at the very least, it was part machine. He wasn't sure it could've used chakra if it weren't at least somewhat human.

He didn't really have time to question the nature's of life, however, for in the next moment, the robot focused it's sights on him, pulling back his wrist and revealing a cannon inside of it.

Naruto could only groan as the thing fired.

He saw spots for a solid thirty seconds, a horrid, unreal sort of pain coming out of the left-most side of his body. He looked down, perhaps unwisely, to see an entire section of his torso was now missing. Well, it wasn't missing, he knew where it was.

Splattered on the wall behind him.

He felt an animalistic rage take over him, and instantly he knew the Nine-Tails was offering him some of it's chakra. He also knew, however, that such an action was far from benevolent.

His flesh repaired itself slowly, but strangely, instead of having the feeling of rage fully encompass him, it instead subsided, fading back into the corners of his mind. His seal, as well, seemed unaffected.

It was such an odd sensation that Naruto subconsciously found himself inside the Nine-Tails' domain, looking at the beast from inside his cage, and shooting the monster a suspicious glare.

"What did you just do!?"

**"Oh?" **The Nine-Tails' booming voice stretched across the watery expanse, echoing off of the walls around them, despite the creature's actual mouth remaining still. **"I would've thought you'd thank me, given that I saved your life."**

"You and I both know we're not exactly on the same side here!" He shouted in retort, eyeing the beast angrily. "If you're not trying to take over my body, then what the hell are you healing me for!?"

The Nine-Tails scoffed, unfurling it's arms and tails and letting the latter sway behind him, giving off an intimidating aura as he got as close to the cage as he could.

**"I don't recall answering to you, of all people."**

"Yeah, well I won't leave until you answer me!"

**"Oh, and let little Sasuke and Sakura die? How heartless of you."**

"Ergh…"

He couldn't deny the foxes words. He wasn't really capable of sitting here any longer than another few moments, but luckily for him, it seemed the fox would explain his reasoning after all.

**"Actually, perhaps it would be better to inform you now, given the situation you've roped the both of us into."**

He felt like growling back at the beast before him, but he managed to hold his tongue.

**"If you must know, I'm not trying to take you over because, even if I succeeded, I imagine I would only be captured a few moments later." **The beast supplied. **"There's a certain man in the Akatsuki whom I know. The masked one called 'Tobi'."**

Now that was news to Naruto. He sat up a bit straighter, as the possibilities of the foxes statements ran through his head.

"How did you know him?"

**"He was the man who placed me under a Genjutsu, back when I attacked the Leaf Village."**

A chill shot down his spine, and his eyes widened as he stood straight up, a inquisitive anger burning away in his mind.

"Why didn't you tell me that when Sakura first ran into him!? We could've told Granny and the others about-"

**"I didn't tell you because I felt that if I didn't, my chances of running into him again would be far lower than if I did inform you." **The fox grunted, sneering over at him.** "And I imagine my plan would've worked, as well, if you didn't have the absolute worst luck in all the damned world!"**

"Well don't blame me!" Naruto shouted, feeling a bit of anger rising in his chest. "It's not my fault bad things constantly assault me!"

**"Oh, it's not your fault! Of course, it's not, you definitely didn't-" **The fox cut himself off, groaning horrendously as he let his tails fall back into the water behind him. **"You know what, never mind. No sense arguing with an idiot."**

"HEY!"

**"Listen here, you damned fool!"**

Naruto went quiet almost instantaneously. The fox might've been caught in a cage, but that didn't mean he felt like earning the ire of a hundred-foot-long demon.

**"I would advise you to avoid all of the members of this 'Akatsuki'. The rest might not be as powerful as he, but any group that would play home to one such as 'Tobi' is a group to be avoided at all costs. Not to mention they're after the Tailed Beasts. You'd do well to stay out of their way at ****_all costs._****"**

Naruto nodded, but both of them knew he couldn't quite do that.

If they went after Sasuke or Sakura…

He'd be getting in their way. Directly in their way, in fact, to punch each and every one of them in the schnoz!

**"Ugh, you really are an idiot."**

"What!? I didn't say anything!"

**"If you think your emotions aren't written on your face for all to see, then I've got an unfortunate newsflash for you."**

He grumbled something under his breath, before turning away from the Nine-Tails, his face a bit hot.

**"Whatever, If you try and get in there way and end up dying , then I'm not holding back. I'll sap your body away from you, and I'll kill those friends of yours for good measure." **The Nine-Tails threatened out of pure spite. **"Now go, back to the world of the living with you."**

He was practically flung out of his seal, landing back in his body and instinctively rolling away from where he lay still. He looked up and around, and saw that his allies were still fighting. They didn't seem to be grieving over his corpse, so he assumed they knew he'd be fine.

How they'd known, he wasn't exactly sure, but the Nine-Tails supplied that information only a second later.

**_I told them you'd be fine using your voice. Said you needed a second to catch your breath, and to hold me back. _**The beast guffawed inside Naruto's mind. **_As if you'd stand a chance of holding me back!_**

He glared at nothing in particular, realizing he couldn't exactly shoot the beast inside him a look when it was… well… inside him. He tuned the great monster out, instead focusing back on the ring eyed Akatsuki before them.

The cyborg continued to find more and more ways to pull missiles out of his ass, though Naruto really, really hoped that wouldn't become a literal statement.

Explosives fired out of it's body, forcing the sound trio back, and making room for Anko to move in and try and attack. She too was forced to retreat, as were Kiba and Akamaru, the latter of which was launched several feet, and caught by the former, who cradled the canine in his arms. A small yip or two from the puppy, however, told Naruto that he wasn't in any real danger.

Still, Naruto wasn't exactly sure what they could do versus the cloaked intruder before them. His assaults were of practically any range, long-range from his explosives, and shorter range for his buzzsaw, which stuck out from underneath his Akatsuki outfit, and hovered around, threatening to gut anyone who got too close.

Funnily enough, it was probably Naruto himself who was best suited to taking on the member before them. He was able to shrug off most blows, and if the Nine-Tails wasn't planning on taking over his body while they were in here…

That meant he could afford to be a bit less risk-averse as well.

He decided to act on his idea, blitzing straight at the Akatsuki before them. The cyborg was quick to react, bringing up his arm-cannon once more and pointing it, this time, at Naruto's head.

_Now there's a good question. _Naruto asked himself. _Can I survive being shot in the face?_

Judging based on how the Nine-Tails stayed quiet, he wasn't quite sure he wanted to test that idea. Thusly, he ducked under the shot, and winced slightly as the flaming ball carved a hole in the wall behind him like a hot knife going through butter. Still, he imagined an arm cannon like that couldn't be fired continuously, and so he forced his way into the machine's guard, bringing out a paper bomb from his bag, and strapping it right onto the metal plate on the cyborg's chest.

In the interim moments, before the paper bomb exploded, he jumped backwards, and covered his head as he curled up on the floor. The rest of him could heal, he knew that, at least, but he wasn't taking any chances.

There was a near deafening blast, and a few pieces of metal flew past him and impacted against the walls around them. He smirked slightly, before turning back around to survey the damage caused by his little stunt, and found…

The cyborg was still standing.

It was damaged, rather heavily at that, but it was standing. There was a large indentation where the metal plate covering it's stomach had been. Now, it's innards were on full display, and Naruto was able to confirm that it was, in fact, half man and half machine, for blood spilled out of the cavity, even if it was mostly metal.

If it was possible for the perpetual smile on the Akatsuki members face to grow any more disturbing, then seeing it look exactly the same, even with what should've been a fatal wound, just about managed it.

He scooted backwards, trying to stand, but found his arms shaking slightly with fear as the cyborg before him brought his buzzsaw out from his coat, fixing it on Naruto's stomach. The creature before him was unfeeling as it prepared to gore him, and that scared him most of all.

_Someone… someone please…_

The Buzzsaw descended.

_Help me!_

Just as the serrated blade was about to make contact with Naruto's skin, a figure launched itself at the back of the cyborg's head, kicking it from behind and slamming it into the wall to Naruto's left. It turned in mid-air, and brought it's hands to it's mouth, forming a complex series of seals that it then used to activate a powerful Jutsu.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

The flaming core hit the Akatsuki head on, forcing it into the wall to Naruto's left and keeping it there for over three seconds. When the fires dissipated, and the cyborg was revealed to still be kicking, the newly arrived figure turned back to his left, and shouted something down the dark corridor.

"SAKURA! NOW!"

A purple-skinned girl came flying into the space, her fist curled behind her back, ready to be unleashed at a moments notice. She fired it, unleashing it's pent up force directly onto the face of the Akatsuki cyborg before them.

The creature was utterly annihilated, viscera and robotic pieces sent flying every which way. It's limp form fell to the floor a moment later, collapsing onto the ground below them and lying completely still. Sparks still flew from it, but they were dissipating rapidly.

The two new figures panted for a moment, seemingly just a bit out of breath, before they both turned towards him, smiles on their faces.

"Hey, Naruto." Sakura, or, at least, Naruto assumed the oddly colored girl was Sakura, spoke. "Good to see you."

"Yeah." Sasuke followed up a moment later, wiping away at some of the spittle hanging to his lips.

"Sorry we're late."

/-/

Nagato flinched slightly as a current of electricity shot up his body, arcing out from his eye and shocking the rest of his form. He breathed out, even as Konan, who had rejoined him from their initial assault, touched the side of his arm, silently asking if he was alright.

"I'm fine, Konan." He reassured her, before looking up at the fake tree bark around them. "One of my forms… was destroyed."

"Who was it?" She asked calmly, and seeing that he didn't exactly look worried, she wasn't concerned. "An agent of Orochimaru?"

"No." Nagato spoke, gaining the last dregs of information out of the Asura Path before he cut the signal to it, and reached out to Yahiko's body instead. "Something quite unexpected, actually."

He used the Deva path's influence, calling out to the other members of the Akatsuki. They answered him one by one, though a few were absent.

Itachi, Sasori, Deidara, and Tobi answered his summons.

"Yo, big man!" Their resident blonde called out to him, smiling at the Deva path, which still stood in the center of the sound village, standing guard alongside Deidara himself in case Orochimaru tried to escape out of the hole his planetary devastation had created. "What's up?"

Firstly, he addressed the missing members.

"What of Kisame and Tobi?" He asked Itachi and Zetsu, respectively.

"Kisame is currently battling Sasori's agent, he's going to beat him into unconsciousness, at which point, I imagine we'll bring him to you, Sasori."

"Excellent." The puppet-master called, sounding most pleased. "I always knew planting an agent into Orochimaru's midst would come in handy. Now we'll learn quite a bit about his research, but also about any escape routes he might try and use to get out of here."

"Tobi went on ahead on his own, sir." White Zetsu told him simply, sounding awfully tired. "I must say, dealing with that one is far more trouble than it's worth."

"Heh," Black Zetsu laughed from alongside the other agent's face. "He's annoyingly rambunctious, but I can't deny his more recent results."

Yahiko nodded, before addressing them all.

"I have a notice to give to you all."

They didn't exactly stand at attention, but they were listening, that much Nagato knew for certain.

"One of my forms was destroyed but a few moments ago. The people who did it were a collection of Leaf ninjas, including some former agents of Orochimaru," He paused to look directly at Itachi. "And one Sasuke Uchiha."

He watched as the boy's older brother attempted to hide his reaction. Even what he did let through was so subtle that Pain nearly missed it, but it was there, unmistakably. The smallest of wobbles of the upper eyebrow, the tiniest twinge of regret at the edges of his eyes…

The Uchiha could claim all he wanted that he did not care for his younger brother's wellbeing, but the truth was evident if one looked hard enough.

Regardless, that wasn't what he'd come to inform them of, not entirely.

"Among that group, however, was another boy, one we have a more immediate interest in."

He was brought back to the last transmission the Asura Path had sent him. Just a few words, but they would prove integral in their mission.

_"Hey, Naruto. Good to see you."_

_"Yeah. Sorry we're late."_

"Among them was Naruto Uzumaki," Pain spoke.

"The Jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox."

**End Chapter 51**

* * *

**Real talk, does anyone even read these?**

**LCS Ended last week, which means no league content to consume for like 6 weeks. Normally MSI would be coming up, but... RIP. Still, Doublelift to TSM is pretty insane... but we don't get to see the team play til' the beginning of June. Ugh.**

**Anyways, my minor life complaints aside, things continue to happen.**

**I know that's not the most informative quote, but I'm still quite tired.**

**See you all next week!**


	52. Chapter 52

**Following up from last chapter... **

**Without further ado, I sort of trapped myself with the name of that last one.**

* * *

**Chapter 52: To Worse**

* * *

Naruto hung his head for a moment, relief coursing through his body like a tidal wave, crashing out through his mouth as a gasping breath. He looked back up at Sasuke and Sakura standing in front of him, both smirking, as if sharing in some kind of inside joke.

He got the feeling the joke was the face he was making, which must've looked positively ridiculous.

He didn't much care.

He shot forward, wrapping the both of them in a bone-shattering hug that threatened to do just that. The two leaf Genin gave him the same treatment, and he was fairly sure they would've killed him if not for the Nine-Tails'-shaped battery in his stomach.

"You're okay!" He nearly shouted as he broke apart from them, finding a smile on his face that was so wide it almost hurt. "I was… Haaah…" he gasped in relief once more, placing his left hand over his heart in an effort to steady himself. "I was so worried."

His teammates laughed at him, but there was no malice in their voices. If anything, they sounded quite reassured themselves, the knowledge that he somehow hadn't changed at all a comforting fact. It would've been an absolutely foolish concern for anyone else, but he'd had very similar anxieties, given they'd been captured by Orochimaru of all people. He'd thought the snake might do something to them, change them in some way…

He looked towards Sakura's skin, an odd shade of purple that was almost gray, and her hair, now a slightly pinkish-white that hung almost to her knees, and couldn't help but feel a small chill shoot up his spine. The sclera of her eyes were a solid black, as well, reflecting just enough light for them to be seen as inhuman. It clashed horridly with her green pupils, which he couldn't quite read. It was almost as if the transformation she'd taken on, whatever it was, concealed her emotions.

_I shouldn't get ahead of myself. _Naruto snapped himself out of his dark thoughts, forcing his mind to focus on the two before him. _I'll ask Sakura what's going on. If I can't trust her to answer me honestly, then what am I doing calling myself her friend?_

That seemed to be put on hold for the moment, however, for it was now Anko's turn to do the hugging. She pounced on the normally pink haired kunoichi, swinging her slightly from side-to-side and causing the girl in her arms to groan a bit uncharacteristically.

"Thank everything you're okay." Anko whispered into the crook of Sakura's neck, just loud enough that Naruto could barely pick it up. "If I'd lost you, I don't…"

Sakura's expression softened almost immediately, a bit like she was only just remembering who it was had a hold of her. Naruto found that quite worrying, swallowing on nothing as he made to stand, but once more, he wasn't able to find the time to ask the girl anything.

"I'd really like to spend more time catching up, but right now, we need to be worrying about getting out of here." Anko spoke, pulling herself away from Sakura and turning back towards the group. "We can save our questions for later, yeah?"

Everyone nodded, including Zaku, who seemed a bit miffed he hadn't gotten to say his piece to Sakura.

_Or he's miffed about the way she and Sasuke keep giving each other that look. _Naruto found some small semblance of amusement in the sound ninja's frustration, even if it was a bit sad. _Sorry, Zaku. You didn't really have a chance, dude._

His teammates, Dosu and Kin, who were standing a few paces behind him, wore expressions largely similar to Naruto's own. Clearly the boy's crush was an open secret.

And one they knew was rather doomed.

Kiba walked in front of the group, leading with his puppies help, and Anko signaled for them all to follow him. Akamaru chirped up as well, giving a rather chipper 'yip!' that seemed a bit at odds with the mechanical corpse still lain a few feet from them. Naruto looked towards it with muddy emotions.

Luckily, it seemed the creature before them hadn't exactly possessed any feelings or emotions, for even as it had been destroyed, the perpetual smile on its face had never left. Now, its face was strewn around the room in multiple pieces, having housed more of a core than a brain, which Naruto could say he was thankful for. It wouldn't have felt good to see Sakura kill someone, even if they had been Akatsuki.

That was a scary prospect for what he hoped was another day. As ninja, he didn't doubt they'd have to dirty their hands at some point, but he hoped it was rather far in the future. Perhaps that was an overly naïve dream, but it was one he'd hold to.

They walked for a while, coming across a few hallways that Sasuke and Sakura told them were dead ends. After perhaps fifteen minutes, they came upon a collapsed tunnel, which the two then explained led to an odd site.

"There was a way out from there." Sasuke explained, placing his hand on the fallen dirt and lamenting silently. "But it's being guarded by what we think is an Akatsuki member. He was riding on a weird bird, and he used long-range explosives on the both of us. It was close, but we managed to get away. Unfortunately, we caved in the path as we came back out."

Naruto nodded, getting the idea, even if it was a bit depressing to think they could've had sweet freedom, if not for some less than stellar luck.

_I'm really growing tired of being stuck in here. _Naruto deadpanned, holding back a groan as they turned around and took another path. _Does anyone even know how long we've been stuck in here?_

Days? Weeks? Honestly, someone could've told him he'd been in there for his entire life, and he'd have been half-tempted to believe them.

He flinched as the walls around them shuddered slightly, a distant explosion seemingly rocking its way through the bunker. He braced himself against the wall beside him, expecting another to follow suit in the next few moments, but nothing came.

A tired sigh fell limply from his mouth. The worry building in the core of his stomach grew only more intense as they came across another collapsed path, though this one seemed to have been broken intentionally, as there were still scorch marks around the edges of the cave-in, as if a targeted blast had broken the ceiling above them.

"Are…" Naruto gulped, trying his very best to not panic. "Are they trying to seal us down here?"

There was a small flick on the back of his forehead, and when he turned around, he was face to face with an annoyed looking Anko, her arms crossed beneath her breasts.

"Assuming the worst now, are we?"

"Er…"

"Don't panic." She rebuked him, but the corners of her mouth turned up a moment later. "C'mon, you're supposed to be the hopelessly optimistic one. What are we going to do if you're down and out, huh?"

He grumbled under his breath, not exactly feeling terribly confident at that moment, before he peered up at Sasuke and Sakura, who were gazing a bit expectantly at him. He realized then and there that the woman wasn't exactly wrong. It wasn't quite a _need_ for him to be the positive one, but the groups morale did, undoubtedly, hang on his own vigor.

_I need to be strong. _He put together a moment later, taking a long and aching breath and plastering a toothy grin onto his face. _If not for me, then for everyone else._

It wasn't exactly fair to have such expectations placed upon him… but life had an odd habit of kicking Naruto in the ass, so he was sort of used to it by now. Besides, to keep his friends happy…

It was a small price to pay.

"You're right!" He shouted out, turning back around, and walking towards another pathway, one which would, hopefully, lead them out of this underground prison. "This is no time to be sitting around moping!"

"Well, I wasn't asking for that much energy, but I respect that you went for it." Anko joked, laughing slightly to herself as she stepped in front of him, marking the path they'd just taken with an 'x' on the wall. "Alright, we'll keep moving, then. Everyone, stay close."

"We don't want to get mixed up in here…"

/-/

Sasuke really did appreciate his friends spirit, but that didn't mean he was having a better time than he had been a few minutes prior.

Largely because they were still stuck down here, his brother was here, just moving around freely, Sakura was still a total enigma, given that he wasn't sure how much her curse mark was affecting her, and there could be another member of the Akatsuki around any corner, just waiting to kill all of them.

It was a hell of a lot of fun, being down in these tunnels, stuck with his thoughts.

They made it to another crossroads, resulting in just about every one of them letting out an exasperated sigh. It felt like this entire place had been designed with confusion in mind, as if the architect himself were laughing at each and every one of them whenever they got lost for the umpteenth time.

"Kiba, you smelling anything?"

The young beast-master furrowed his brow, and Sasuke got the impression that something was worrying him.

"Yeah, but I'm not sure how helpful it'd be."

"That's fine. Anything's better than nothing at this point."

"Guess that's fair." Kiba reasoned. "Well, Akamaru's having problems getting the smell of the outside because, like I said earlier, he's pretty overwhelmed. That said, he thinks… and I'm not able to confirm this, since my nose is just as bad right now, but he thinks it's going to be more northwest than northeast."

Kiba walked up towards the maze of pathways before them, and pointed to the ones more off to his left

"If we can, we should try and stick to the western halls. That's at least where Akamaru says the smell seems to be coming from."

Anko followed the boys advice, taking the middle-most western path.

Once more, they encountered no one.

At this point, things were beginning to make a bit more sense for Sasuke. Evidently, the soldiers around here had already gone to try and defend Orochimaru's position, wherever the hell that was, and didn't have time to be dealing with the escape of some random Genin. Even Orochimaru himself probably had bigger things to be worrying about.

Likely not dying.

Still, they did encounter the occasional corpse left on the side of the path, or, in the case of the one just before them, directly before them.

"Huh." Dosu spoke out a bit quietly, sounding almost… sad. "I knew this guy. He was one of the cafeteria workers. Well, working here, he was a ninja too, but… he used to give me an extra helping of whatever I asked for."

Zaku patted his teammate on the shoulder, trying to cheer him up a bit, but it seemed as if Dosu was quite good at dealing with his emotions, for he took a deep breath and soldiered forward, as if he hadn't seen a thing.

Sasuke could respect the boy's resolve. If he were to mourn the man, he'd do it later. Though, to be fair, Sasuke had the feeling the sound ninja would forget the body they'd passed by within the day.

That seemed awfully cold to Sasuke. Especially with how he'd been feeling since he'd encountered his brother again, back when they'd fought in the hallway of that hotel. He'd been reminded then that he wanted his friends to help keep him out of the darkness…

He'd been reminded they truly were the most important people in the world to him.

He zoned out as they traveled through the hallways, and subconsciously, he found himself walking side-by-side with Naruto. He wasn't sure why, at first, but a small voice seemed to call out from the back of his mind, proclaiming that he knew exactly what he was doing.

He'd found an answer to what Naruto had asked of him all that time ago.

_I'm still trying to find my own reason to live my life… One that isn't just for you guys… Or for my family's legacy… but I promise… I promise I'll try and find that, too_

It wasn't perfect, and he was fairly sure the boy beside him would call him out on such, but he didn't much care. He was going to tell Naruto what he felt, and he held it in good faith that he would accept that.

Naruto was his best friend, after all.

He lightly tapped the Jinchuuriki on the shoulder, before, a second later, he realized he should probably let Sakura in on this as well. The girl jumped slightly as he made contact, having apparently been in her own little world, but she turned back with a curious expression, looking towards the two of them questioningly.

"Uhm…" He began a bit awkwardly, finding a nervous sort of energy pervading his chest. "There's something I need to tell Naruto, but I felt like you should hear it too, so…"

Sakura tilted her head to the side but nodded a moment later, seemingly uncaring.

They hung back just a little from the rest of the group, a few feet, but even that was enough for Kiba and the Sound trio to shoot them odd looks. He ignored them, turning towards Naruto, and taking a deep breath.

"I've got my answer."

Naruto reacted almost instantly, his eyes widening as a small smile threatened to overtake his face. It played with the corners of his mouth, even as he fought to keep it under control. Sakura, for her part, seemed confused, which Sasuke thought was fair, given that she hadn't been present for his and Naruto's initial talk.

"Let's hear it, then." Naruto sounded supportive as they rounded a corner, and continued down what was an almost identical passageway.

"I…" He worked up the nerve. "I've decided that I'm going to live to protect all of you."

Naruto's excitement faded slowly, being replaced instead with an inquisitive expression, which seemed like it could easily transition into an annoyed one at the drop of a hat.

"Just curious," The Jinchuuriki started. "How is that any different than living for us? Because the whole point was that you'd find a reason to live for yourself, not for us."

"I know." Sasuke shook his head, trying to explain it a bit better this time. "It's not some grand answer, I know, but… I'm not living vicariously anymore. I'm not just going to fade away or… or die. I'm going to stick around and protect all of you. I'm going to keep you all safe. That's my dream."

Naruto squinted once more.

"Right. I hear you. What I'm saying is this sounds an awful lot like living **_for _**us." Naruto tried to fire back at him. "You're placing your own life under less importance. You throwing it away for us, instead of throwing it away on a whim, is no better!"

"I'm not throwing my life away."

"Huh?"

"I'm not devaluing my life." Sasuke reassured his best friend, trying to convey his sincerity with his expression. "I've been thinking while I was down here… About you, and Sakura, and Kakashi and Ino and everyone else waiting for us back in the village. I've decided that… I won't let any of you get hurt. But, I knew that wouldn't be enough for you, because that would just be me throwing myself in front of them, as a human shield."

"No better than before." Naruto followed along. "So, you're saying it's different?"

Sasuke nodded once more.

"I'm not going to throw away my life, because I know my life's important for protecting you all." He explained, ignoring the way Naruto's brow furrowed slightly. "If I were to die, then I couldn't count on anyone else in the village to keep you guys safe like I can, so, naturally, I can't die."

Naruto opened and closed his mouth, as if still disagreeing with him on the nature of his 'answer'. Sakura, on the other hand, gave a smirk as she bumped his shoulder with her own.

"Well, well, well." The girl chimed in for the first time in a while, seemingly zoning back into the world as she listened to them talk. "Consider me protected."

He wasn't sure if the girl was just a bit more forward than she'd normally be, but he found himself blushing slightly at her comment, despite there being only a very subtle undertone that he definitely had to reach for to catch.

"Hold it!" Naruto cut back in. "I'm still not convinced! This is just your old 'answer' with extra steps!"

"Well, it's not perfect, I'll admit that." Sasuke confessed, looking over towards his best friend and meeting his gaze seriously. "But I'm not going to stop there, either. I… I'll keep improving my 'answer', until it really is as good as it can be."

Naruto's eyes relaxed ever so slightly, and he saw in the boy's expression the first signs of him coming to terms with the things Sasuke had said. It would be a gradual process, that he already knew, but with the way the hyperactive blonde cared about him, not to mention Sakura behind him…

He couldn't betray their trust. And that meant he had to be honest with them, too.

"I…" He steeled his nerve. "I'm not going to give up on killing Itachi. I can't do that, and-"

"We know."

He turned towards Naruto, seeing the unsurprised but sad look on his face, and then to Sakura, seeing her visage much the same.

"We know how much all of that means to you. I… no, _we_ won't ask you to stop, but…" Naruto took a shaky breath, as if he himself were steeling his nerves to say something he'd been holding back. "When you face him, and you will… let us come too."

It was Sasuke's turn to be shocked now. He looked the both of them in the eye and saw the resolve they held there. Clearly, this had been a talking point between the two of them for a very long while, one they'd been horribly nervous about approaching him with.

They must've thought he'd turn them down outright, and to be fair to them, the urge to do just that was the first thing that came over him. Hell, a month or two ago, he was fairly sure that would've come blazing out of his lips without a second thought…

But if he was asking them to trust him…

"Alright." He muttered quietly, awkwardly rubbing at the back of his neck. "I… That seems more than fair."

The two looked positively flabbergasted, evidently having expected him to put up a fierce resistance, before they let out titanic breaths. They sounded incredibly relieved as they reached over and brought him into an unwieldy, mid-walk hug, one which he fought against with every fiber of his being.

Unfortunately, by the time he was able to shake them off, they'd already finished, laughing to themselves a bit giddily as they looked up at him.

"And, well…" Sasuke blushed a bit more fiercely this time, purposefully avoiding eye-contact with Sakura. "I genuinely would like to repopulate my clan as well. But that's a bit farther off, and larger in scope."

"And you'd need some help." The younger kunoichi pointed out, though there was a playful twinge at the back of her throat that had a knot forming in Sasuke's stomach. "Well, let me know if you're looking for volunteers."

Sasuke coughed violently, practically losing himself in the burning sensation taking over his face. Naruto, for his part, looked much the same, hiding the blush on his cheeks with one of his hands as he took a few steps to the left, now as far from the two of them as he could be in the narrow corridor.

"W-w-what the hell!?" The boy shouted. "W-when did you get so aggressive, Sakura!?"

Sasuke could admit to wanting to know that himself, but when he tried to ask, he found his throat clamming up.

"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked, flicking some of her new longer hair out of her face. "I'm always like this."

"You're not." Naruto refuted.

_She isn't. _Sasuke agreed mentally.

Sakura shrugged, evidently not caring very much what they thought of her. He watched as, a moment later, the girl's eyes glazed over slightly, as if she'd gone to her own little world. He reached over quite gingerly, his face still aflame with embarrassment, and lightly brushed her shoulder, watching as she snapped back to reality.

"S-sorry." She spoke quietly, rubbing the back of her neck with one hand. "Curse marks being weird."

_Well that'd certainly explain this recent conversation._

It was yet another part of this curse mark that he didn't like. Evidently, the moment they got back to the village, Sasuke, Naruto, and Anko were hauling the girl in for testing, whether she liked it or not, but that didn't mean they should ignore it now if it was going to be toying with her normal emotions and behaviors.

"Sakura?" He decided he'd do this now, stepping just a bit in front of her so he could see the whole of her face while they walked. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Well, I'm certainly not perfect, but I'm doing fine, sort of."

_Less to go off of than I was hoping for._

"I think Sasuke's trying to ask how your curse marks affecting you without actually asking it." Naruto summarized with a coy smile, teasing him just a bit. "You could always just say what you want to, y'know?"

"Shut up…" He muttered under his breath. "But… yeah, he's not wrong, I guess. Is your curse mark… doing anything to you?"

Sakura seemed to considered that for a moment as they stepped into another large area, one which looked to have seen a battle fairly recently, if the scratches along the wall and missing chunks of the floor were anything to go by.

"I… yeah." Their teammate admitted after some time, looking up at them with a sad smile on her face. "Honestly, I'm losing it, just a little bit."

His eyes widened as she averted her gaze from their own, staring down at the chipped floor below her as they crossed through the makeshift battlefield, and into another hall on the opposite side.

"I can't really describe it, but… Just keep talking, okay?"

"Huh?" Naruto asked her, re-approaching the two of them now that their 'flirting' was over. "Sakura, what do you mean?"

"Right now, I… I think the only thing that's keeping me present is the sound of your voices." She looked to the both of them, an awkward plea hanging in her eyes. "Please, just… stay by me, and don't let me forget who you are… or who I am, ok?"

Sasuke felt a core of dread building in his throat, but he swallowed it, focusing instead on the raw desire to keep the girl safe that was practically boiling along inside him.

"Okay." He promised her. "We won't let you lose yourself."

The girl smiled, despite the sadness lurking behind her gaze. He tried to ignore it as well, but it haunted him just a bit too much for it to quite be left behind.

"Hey, we found one!"

They turned towards the front of the group, where Kiba was stood before a staircase. Akamaru barked happily on his head, and from the reaction, Sasuke could tell just what it was they'd discovered.

"A passage up!?"

The sole member of Team 8 nodded, an animalistic smirk encompassing his veneer.

"Whew." Anko blew some air out of her mouth, stepping in front of the dog-lover and patting both he and Akamaru on the top of their heads, though she took a second longer to lightly scratch the puppy under his chin. "I was beginning to get a tad concerned. Alright, we're going up, so don't dawdle behind, you three."

Sasuke smiled as the rest of the group had a laugh at their expense. He knew it was good-natured, as did Naruto and Sakura. The former snickered, though the latter only placed a hand in front of her mouth, feigning a laugh as they continued walking along.

Sasuke didn't like it, not one bit, but he couldn't do anything about it, not now. Instead, he focused on what he could do. He nudged both of his best friends on their shoulders and asked a rather simple question as they turned to meet him.

"What should we talk about?"

/-/

Orochimaru grabbed the last of the documents sitting upon the table before him, and, with nary a thought, set them aflame.

He was standing in his main laboratory, alongside numerous bodies, papers, and experiments. Hanging along the walls were the remains of tens, perhaps hundreds of people, all aiding him in unlocking the secrets of immortality, secrets which were written down on pages and pages of work that had taken him half a century to amass.

And he was content to destroy them all.

If _they_ were coming for him, then he wasn't going to let them have his life's work for free.

He burned discovery after discovery, subject after subject, and even his more recent research, focused on trying to undo the reaper death seal.

_Especially _that. He had a theory, now, about just what it was the Akatsuki might be trying to accomplish. It was a long-shot, and perhaps giving the bastards a bit too much credit…

But best not to take any chances.

He heard the sound of someone entering the room, and didn't even bother turning to meet them. The Akatuski weren't the type to kill **him** while his back was turned, even if they might've with anyone else. He, however, was a traitor to their ranks, and so he'd earned their ire, ire enough that they'd want him to _know_ just who it was had killed him.

He could respect that.

"Ah! Orochimaru, hi there!"

He let out a small groan as he heard the voice of the man he'd least wanted to encounter today. He turned, looking into the black hole of Tobi's right eye, and trying not to give anything away on his face.

He threw the flaming scroll in his hands at the masked man and watched with some small amusement as it passed right through him, crumpling entirely to ash as it hit the ground.

"How mean, Oro!" The man-child complained, shaking his fists up in down in an incredibly annoying manner. "You know I've never been very good at playing catch!"

"Drop the act. It's never deceived me, and I grow quite tired of it."

The assailant before him halted, letting his hands fall back to their normal positions and letting out a sigh. He looked up towards Orochimaru, and barely, if the dim light of his laboratory hit the man's mask just right, he thought he could see the eye inside. It did not regard him playfully, as one might've expected from Tobi's persona, but instead with a cold seriousness.

_Ah. _Orochimaru's face split open, revealing teeth beneath that could've cut into the man's neck, if not for his special ability. _So __**this **__is your true self._

_How interesting._

"Are you sure?" Tobi's voice changed altogether, and as he stepped forward, his walking was inaudible on the tile below him. "Most people who've said that find they quite prefer 'Tobi', in the end."

Orochimaru smirked.

He unhinged his jaw, and felt the hilt of his Kusanagi blade rise out from his stomach. He drew it, and wielded it in his bodies new right hand. Already, the form of the prisoner he'd absorbed was changing back into his own. The man's spiky white hair was already becoming straight and long, flowing to the bottom of his neck, and his mouth and nose were conforming to their old shape.

The man's form was, at least, useful for regaining some control over his arms. He still could not utilize Jutsu, but he was able to wield the blade in his right hand with a practiced ease.

Tobi, however, seemed unimpressed.

"Is that all?" The man's gravely voice asked him, tilting his head slightly as if disappointed. "Well, I suppose that's fine. It's not like it matters too terribly much."

Tobi reached up towards his mask, and Orochimaru realized with some degree of shock that he was about to remove it. His fingers touched the material, made solid contact…

And Orochimaru was upon him.

He blitzed forward in a few milliseconds, his sword cutting through where the man had just been. Like he'd thought, however, Tobi's true self was that of a seasoned and experienced ninja.

_He'd have had to be,_ Orochimaru knew, _to take on Minato all those years ago._

The battle was short. Without any of his Jutsu, including, perhaps most importantly, the Reanimation Jutsu, he was a shadow of his former self, and certainly not equipped to be fighting a ninja who might just be higher than the rank 'S'.

He skittered to the floor, finding himself knocked back, looking up at Tobi a few meters away from him. He stood victoriously, not an ounce of doubt in his features. Clearly, he knew of Orochimaru's weakness, of what the Third had taken from him.

"You shouldn't interrupt, Orochimaru." The man told him, a bit of his Tobi persona sinking into his voice. "It's awfully rude."

He reached up to his mask once more, clicking it in and pulling out. The orange, spiraling porcelain was removed, and the man beneath was revealed. To Orochimaru's immense shock, he actually recognized the features below it.

From it blossomed a memory he'd honestly forgotten he had. He'd spied upon Minato all those years ago, trying to figure out what would make him a superior candidate to him to be chosen for the position of fourth Hokage. In his anger, he'd even thought about taking one of the Flash's pupils and using them as a test experiment. Purely out of rage and spite, at first, but then, when he'd realized the soon-to-be-Hokage had an Uchiha under his tutelage…

Orochimaru let out an almost manic cackle, putting the pieces together even as the unmasked ninja before him stepped closer, coming for what he could only assume was the finishing blow.

_So… that's how it is…_

The Uchiha under the man had not had his Sharingan unlocked when he'd gone to kidnap him, and so he had, with some annoyance, let the boy live. There'd been no reason to think he'd ever be anything more than a black sheep of the Uchiha clan, after all, there were many Uchiha who never even unlocked their Sharingan to begin with.

"To think you of all people would betray the Leaf Village…" He felt another bout of laughter bubbling up from within him, but suppressed it. "You, who clamored on and on about becoming Hokage, while living in the shadow of another."

The enigma before him said nothing, stepping forward and opening his left eye.

"To think it'd be you…" He uttered past his teeth. "Obito Uchiha."

"So… you know of that name." The former leaf ninja confirmed, unfeeling. "Hm. Not like it matters."

The Sharingan in his left eye spun again, forming into a Mangekyou that Orochimaru had never seen…

_So… that Danzo really was holding out on me. _Orochimaru realized, finding the man's treachery almost entertaining. _You trusted no one to the bitter end… and look where it got the both of us.  
_

"Tell me, _Obito_," Orochimaru mocked the man's identity, but silently wondered if he would fulfill his endless quest for knowledge. "Just how did you survive?"

"Since you've seen my face and know of my identity" Obito continued, completely ignoring him. "I'm afraid I'm the last person you'll ever get to see. But first," The man's left eye bled slightly, a single bead of red rolling down his cheek, like a tear. "You will tell me… everything."

Orochimaru knew not what was coming, but he had an almost vague idea. If this was what the Akatsuki had gained from killing Danzo, then it had to have been his trump card. And the trump card of a man who'd played his cards that close to his chest…

Was nothing to be trifled with.

"Kotoamatsukami."

**End Chapter 52**

* * *

**Yesterday, while I was supposed to be finishing and editing this chapter, I instead played Persona 5 The Royal for approximately 8 hours.  
**

**I do need like... some help.**

****Getting pretty close to the end of this arc. Letting everyone know that once it's over, this story will take a couple week-to-month long break while I plan the next couple of arcs.****

****Not quite yet, though. You've still got weekly updates for a bit!****

****On that note, see you all next week!****


	53. Chapter 53

**Yo!**

**Back again! If you're looking for more details as to why there wasn't a chapter last week, then check the Author's note at the end of the chapter for that!**

**Other than that, Without further ado, I suppose we'd better get right into it!**

* * *

**Chapter 53: Sakura's Thoughts**

* * *

"–And so then, we used my super good idea, followed Sasuke's blood trail, and found the base!"

"So… technically it was _my _'super cool idea', then, since I left the trail behind so you'd use it."

"No, because you were kidnapped at that point."

"I fail to see how that's at all relevant."

"It means I get credit for all of your ideas."

"…Under what metrics? Because at the moment, I'm not seeing them."

Sakura felt a tiny blossom of mirth in her chest, but it was quickly consumed by the negativity flying around inside her head.

She ignored it as best she could, trying to focus not on what she could not control for the moment, but on what she could deal with now. Namely, she could listen more closely to her two friends' stories, trying to forget her cares in their words.

It wasn't working too terribly well, all things considered.

Her curse marks new presence was something she could feel even when it was inactivate. That wasn't exactly new, given she'd been able to feel a small prickling in the back of her neck whenever her emotions got too heated previously, but now it was constant. Constant, and far more extreme as well.

She bit down on her bottom lip, much harder than she perhaps should've, and drew a droplet of blood that flowed down her chin. Without even thinking, she stuck her tongue out and lapped it up. She didn't want Naruto and Sasuke to see it and worry.

That was the last thing she wanted.

A moment or two later, her lip was already fixed. She had no idea why, but ever since she'd been given this transformation, her body's natural healing had been increased by quite a bit. It wasn't near the level of Naruto's Nine-Tails, but it was similar in that it worked without any thought from her, and that she was positive such an effect was far more insidious than it seemed.

She choked back a gasp as a horrendous pain carved at her shoulder blades. Luckily, it seemed like no one in their group had noticed, and so she reached into her shirt as stealthily as she could, feeling around the area the ache originated from and wincing silently.

There were still bumps from where the twin hand-wing-things had cut their way out of her skin. It hadn't been anything she'd been able to experience at the time, given that she'd been under the influence of the curse marks' second level, but once she'd finally been able to deactivate it…

The agony had come hard and fast. She was just lucky Anko and Naruto hadn't heard her scream. She was fairly sure they wouldn't have gotten over that enough to not swamp her with questions, and that would slow them down…

Which was something they absolutely couldn't afford. Not stuck in Orochimaru's base of all places.

She zoned back into Naruto and Sasuke's conversation, trying to hang onto the sounds of their voices, but was quickly brought back into her headspace by her curse mark flaring up once more. She'd thought about it before, but now she was almost certain the mark had a malevolent will. Now that it had progressed into its second form, that will was only growing more powerful, and harder to resist.

She looked up at the sound of Kiba calling out to them, though what exactly he'd said she couldn't quite work out. Everything was just a bit too fuzzy. From the way Naruto and Sasuke turned to her and smiled, however, she assumed it must've been something good.

Hopefully, it was a way out of here.

She got her wish a second later, but it wasn't exactly what she'd been pining for.

Their group looked out upon the same chasm she and Sasuke had arrived at earlier. They stood in a slightly different spot this time, from what Sakura could see from just a few feet from the entrance. They hid just out of sight for the man flying above them, who, luckily, didn't seem to have any abilities that let him see through walls.

Which would've been problematic, and not even sort of the weirdest thing she'd seen that week.

Still, he'd been able to see them from what had to be nearly 50 meters up, which meant either that his eyes were far better than most, or he had some way of enhancing his vision beyond its normal means.

Anko waved her and Sasuke forward, and they stepped up. She missed some of what the woman said, but caught what she thought were the important parts.

Namely, a question.

"What can you tell me about this guy?"

Luckily for Sakura, Sasuke took the question for her, which helped a ton given that she really hadn't seen much before being blown to high heaven. Added onto that was the fact that she wasn't entirely cognizant at that moment.

Anko rubbed her chin with one hand, clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth.

"Sucks that Zabuza and Haku aren't here." She spoke under her breath, careful not to let her voice echo into the man-made canyon beyond them, on the off chance the Akatsuki above them had sensory abilities that'd let him pick such a thing up. "The boy's ice and the assassin's mist would make good tools for taking that guy out of the sky before he even saw us."

Sakura could agree with that, finding her thoughts growing less and less muddied the more they thought about the situation before them. It seemed like her minds processes were far clearer when she was being presented with an actual problem, one she had to solve, rather than just walking from place to place.

It made sense. She had an actual reason to focus.

"So… what's the plan, snake lady?" Naruto asked Anko, crouching down and just barely getting a sight line on the giant white bird above them. "Are we going to try running from him, or beating the crap out of him, or…?"

"Well let's start by not giving me a cute nickname." Anko corrected the boy with a glare. "But I don't really know. Unfortunately, we don't really have any Jutsu that'd let us close the distance. This would be a great time for a perfected Striking from Shadows, but whenever I use it, it roots me in place inside the wall."

"No iterating on the spot, then?" Sasuke asked unexpectantly.

"Can't say you should expect it, no."

"Well, if we wanted, we could try distracting him?" Naruto brought up, standing from where he was and sidling along the walls of the exit around them, until he was only barely out of sight of the man above them. "I could run out, and thanks to the Nine-Tails' healing, I'd be fine to-"

"To get exploded?" Anko cocked an eyebrow. "I don't think you come back from having your entire body reduced to a pile of pulp, but maybe I'm wrong."

"Hmm…" Naruto seemed to consider that for a moment, going silent and placing his right hand over his stomach. A moment later, his eyes widened, and he grew a slightly worried look on his face. "So, uh… yeah, I don't survive if my body gets blown up."

"Good to know."

"Actually…"

Sakura turned to where Dosu had spoken up, raising his hand a bit lazily and shuffling towards them on his knees.

"We three," He gestured back to where Zaku and Kin were. "Might be able to do something about him."

"We're midrange fighters all around," Zaku picked up after the boy had finished. "But we can protect the group with our Wind and Sound Jutsus."

"Well, more us, since Zaku's wind-tunnels have gone kaput." Kin brought up. "But yeah, what he said."

Zaku grumbled something under his breath but didn't speak up.

"It's a shame, really. Zaku's tunnels would've been the most helpful out of all of them. He could've deflected that guy's explosions at long range with a blast of air, and maybe even knock him off his bird." Dosu muttered disappointedly. "Still, I know a wind-based Jutsu that can basically do what his tunnels could, even if it's a hell of a lot less chakra efficient."

"And, well, I've been practicing with some different kinds of Genjutsu, but one of the ones I'm better at should be able to mask any sounds we make." Kin looked confident, even if there was just a touch of nervous energy hanging off of her. "We can wait for that guy to look somewhere else, then sneak out using it, and nail him with a wind Jutsu. Hopefully, we send him spiraling off his little bird before he even knows what hit him!"

Anko took in the sound trio's information, rubbing her chin with one hand absent-mindedly. She considered the plan for another few seconds, before nodding to the three of them.

"Alright, for lack of any better options, we'll go with that."

Everyone acknowledged the woman's orders, turning towards the exit to their little cavern and preparing to breach. They'd be jumping a few feet into the chasm below, which would've, under normal circumstances, echoed loudly across the ruptured earth, alerting the Akatsuki above. According to Kin, however, the girl's bells, which she was still tuning and passing around, would mask those sounds and prevent them from traveling… even if Sakura wasn't entirely sure how that was going to work.

Naruto had volunteered to go first, as he normally did. He took one of the girl's bells in his left hand and charged out of the hole, landing some fifteen feet below and rolling as he did.

There was no noise, and Kin gave a silent pump of her fist, seemingly rather proud of herself. Sakura couldn't begrudge the girl, since she'd done similar things in the past.

Immediately, Naruto took cover behind a larger outcropping of rocks that would, theoretically, block him from view. He looked back towards them, and gave them a subtle thumbs up.

It was time for the rest of them to join him.

They waited for the bird to take another pass over, and then followed him. Anko went next, followed closely by Sasuke, and then Sakura herself was up. Upon landing, she discovered that the sound wasn't actually muted. In fact, it wasn't even dimmed by all that much. Instead, it was as if the loud noise of their collision with the rocks below them simply… stopped after ten or so feet. The sound didn't carry any further than that.

She was quite impressed with Kin, offering the girl a simple fist bump as she landed beside her that was returned a second later.

Anko gave a few hand signals as they ducked behind the large rock Naruto had taken cover behind. It wasn't a foolproof plan, that much Sakura could tell, even in her slightly addled state. If the man above them could see past this rock at all…

Then they would be getting exploded. A lot.

Though as the minutes ticked by, and they hadn't been exploded, Sakura began to grow more and more relaxed. Anko drew her hands together and formed a few quick seals, before letting a snake slide out of the sleeves of her trench coat. It slithered along the rocky terrain until Sakura could no longer see it, but she still heard the light hiss it gave off, though it wasn't as if she understood it.

"Alright." Her teacher's voice, much like their earlier landings, was obscured after a certain point. "Sound guys, if you're making a move, you'd best do it in about ten seconds. He'll be turning his back on us for a brief moment."

Dosu nodded, before signalling Kin and Zaku forward.

Sakura watched as they vaulted the stone above them, and peaked her head around the corner to continue following them. They made it another twenty or so feet before Dosu began to create signs with his hands, presumably for the wind-based Jutsu he'd said he possessed earlier.

He removed the bandages around his mouth for what Sakura realized was the first time she'd ever seen. His face looked… normal. Surprisingly normal for someone who kept it covered almost every hour of the day.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

A lacerating wind flew out from the man's lips, propelled by what Sakura could only assume was a staggering amount of Chakra. It flew towards the man above them at a decent speed, though Sakura had no illusions about the fact that if the man had been looking at them, it wouldn't have hit him.

Luckily for them, he hadn't been.

The breakthrough struck his bird from the side, instantly flipping the beast over and sending the man atop it spiraling off. Sakura couldn't quite see his expression, but from the way he looked around wildly, it seemed to her he was trying to both right himself, and see just what the hell had done that to him.

His eyes locked onto Kin, Dosu, and Zaku a second later, and he instantly shot a hand out, even whilst falling through the sky, and fired… something out of it.

He disappeared beyond the lip of the canyon a second later, and hopefully, he'd landed wrong, and wasn't going to be coming back. Unfortunately for them, they still had to deal with the oncoming objects.

Sakura didn't immediately recognize what it was were coming towards them, though she noted they had wings and seemed to maneuver like real creatures. She at first thought them summons, though her opinion changed a moment later as they dodged around Dosu's next Breakthrough, and blitzed forward, almost dive-bombing towards the trio in an effort to…

_Oh shit!_

Sakura felt her transformation take over her body without really meaning to, dashing past the rocky outcropping she'd been behind and directly in front of the sound trio. She briefly noticed the panicked expressions on their faces, but ignored them. She had to focus on something more important first.

Namely, what exactly she was supposed to do now. It was great and all that she was here, standing in front of her friends and protecting them, but the problems came in when she thought about what she could actually do for them.

It wasn't much. She had a few Jutsu that could defend against explosions, but…

She didn't really know all that much about the Jutsu before her. From up close, she could tell now that the pure white blobs flying towards her resembled insects more than anything. Dragonflies that were perhaps eight or nine inches across. How powerful they would be, on the other hand, was a total mystery.

Still, that didn't mean she couldn't try. She brought chakra up from out of her belly and focused it in the back of her throat, quickly forming the signs for her Water Bullet. She shot the high-pressure stream of water out of her mouth, trying to destroy the oncoming bombs before they could reach her.

Just like with Dosu, however, the white insects merely dodged around her Jutsu, weaving through it with little to no effort whatsoever. She felt a modicum of panic rise in her chest as they went from being a good fifty feet away to perhaps only twenty-five

She focused her chakra into her hands then, bringing more than she thought she'd need, and slammed them into the ripped-up earth beneath her.

"Earth Style: Mud Wall!"

A barrier made of soil and earth burst from the rocks, growing to a height of around eight feet. It was a bit larger, and, more importantly, a bit thicker than one she would've normally created, however, and so she could only hope it'd stand up against the Akatsuki's Jutsu.

She'd timed it so that by the time the wall was up, hopefully the insects wouldn't be able to dodge around it. They'd had less than a half-second to move around it, so she could only hope they couldn't resist their own momentum.

She received her answer only a moment later, as she felt a minuscule, almost negligible shaking in her hands…

Before the world went white.

_…What…_

The first thing Sakura thought to do was see if she was alive. A quick pat on her shoulder, and a cry of agony from her arm as she moved it confirmed that she was still kickin' it. She turned back towards Dosu, Zaku, and Kin, and saw the latter two huddled around someone on the ground.

_Oh._

_That's probably not good._

She forced herself up, finding her bones creaking like an old, rusted fence. They didn't quite give out, but if they had, well… she wouldn't have exactly been surprised. She found the aches and pains in her body growing more negligible by the second, like her body was silently repairing itself, or, perhaps more disconcertingly, her curse mark was phasing the pain out of her thought process, letting her forget it was even there.

She stood over Dosu's bleeding body with an almost apathetic expression. Zaku and Kin weren't grieving, but they were trying to rouse the boy. It was clear from the way the barely conscious Dosu gripped onto Zaku's shirt that he was in some pretty immense pain. Sakura couldn't see the leader of the Sound trio admitting even a hint of his weaknesses if he weren't in serious trouble.

Anko, Naruto, Sasuke and Kiba practically flew over, the former-most member immediately checking Sakura. The woman's face seemed locked into a stunned expression, although Sakura herself couldn't quite see what the problem was.

"What's the matter, Sensei?"

Her teacher silently grabbed onto Sakura's left arm, which gave a silent scream of protest to the movement. She looked down, trying to see what Anko was getting at–

_Oh. _Sakura realized as she looked down at her own limb. _There's a hole in my arm. _

Around the middle of her bicep, just a tad bit to the left, an entire chunk of her arm seemed to have been eviscerated. If she had to guess, it had happened thanks to one of the insects exploding, and launching a rock her way at several hundred miles an hour. It made sense, really, when she broke it down like that. In fact, she was lucky it hadn't been her head.

_I have to thank my curse mark for once. _Sakura thought to herself, feeling not an ounce of fear, or panic, or terror seep into her veins. _It's keeping me awfully calm._

"It's fine, Sensei." Sakura smiled at her, trying to keep the woman beside her from freaking out. "I don't even feel it, so-"

"How the hell is it fine!?"

Her eyes shot open, and before she could protest, Naruto and Sasuke had grabbed onto her, holding her in place, and Anko had already gone about wrapping her arm with a roll of gauze. It hurt just a bit, likely due to her curse mark's influence fading slightly with the people most important to her all surrounding her.

Dosu let out an ear-piercing yell, and Sakura turned towards him to see just what was the matter. Kin and Dosu had tried to get the boy to stand, but unfortunately, his right leg had buckled beneath him.

"Shit!" Zaku cursed, carrying the boy alongside Kin as they walked him over to the remainder of the group. "He's got a pieces of shrapnel stuck in his right leg, and one in his left shoulder."

_That explains the blood all over him._

"I'm fine." Dosu hissed out between his teeth, barely managing to stand on his own in what Sakura could only imagine was torture. "Stop panicking like a bunch of fucking children. We're ninja."

Zaku and Kin stepped back from Dosu, giving him a bit of space. Evidently, they'd been rather perturbed by his words. Sakura herself could see the value in being able to ignore her emotions, as Dosu had always seemed able to do, though she definitely felt he could've handled that a bit better. Though, given that he currently had a half-dozen new holes all over his body, she was willing to forgive a bit of crassness on his part.

She hadn't even noticed that Sasuke and Naruto were talking to her until the latter teammate tapped her on her uninjured shoulder. She turned towards him inquisitively, feeling a bit bad that she'd basically zoned out the entirety of his monologue.

"Uhm, sorry, what did you need, Naruto?"

"I was asking if you were okay." The knucklehead repeated. "You've been staring over at those three for the past, like, two minutes without blinking."

"So?"

Naruto opened his mouth to speak again, but only a sigh escaped before he closed it once more.

"Nothing. We should probably get climbing, anyways." Naruto looked back to where the man they'd knocked away earlier had fallen to. "Besides, if that guy really was a member of the Akatsuki… I have the sneaking suspicion he's probably both fine and angry."

Sakura agreed with that, at least. She felt her transformation begin to fade ever so slightly as she tried to force her chakra to surround the curse mark. Her old method of closing the infernal power had grown… not ineffective, but severely dampened in use thanks to its evolution.

She felt the wings retreat into her back as they made it to the canyon wall. She placed a hand on the rocky surface before her and flooded it with just enough chakra to create a small layer on the front of it. With that, she began to ascend the wall.

"Uhm, Sakura?"

She looked back behind her, where everyone else was still standing solidly on terra firma. They were huddling around Dosu, who wore an angry expression as everyone surrounded him, seemingly questioning whether or not he could make it up the cliff-face before him.

Though judging by the way he averted his eyes from theirs, Sakura was fairly confident in saying he couldn't.

She hopped the twenty or so feet she'd climbed back down to the ground, taking the initial impact in her ankles and rolling when she hit the ground to diffuse the rest. Everyone was speaking to one another, seemingly trying to come up with a way to get Dosu up.

She thought for a minute about what could be done, before, with a sigh, she turned herself around, and let her curse marks evolved state take back over her body.

"On my back." She ordered the boy. "It'll be easier that way."

There was a palpable silence that did nothing more than annoy her, and as she turned back around to see just what the hell was taking Dosu so long, it was actually Anko's face that met her own.

"You realize I'm a Jonin, right?" The woman opened with a single raised eyebrow. "I can carry him up without issue."

"Yeah, but then if that guy were to reappear, you wouldn't be able to defend us." Sakura explained calmly, signaling once more for Dosu to get on her back. "Now come on, we don't have all day."

Another moment of silence followed, during which Sakura felt herself begin to sigh, before she felt a sudden weight settling on her back and pushing her towards the earth below. She smiled as she looked back, seeing an embarrassed Dosu hanging onto her shoulders, and crossing his legs around her midsection.

"Good. Glad we got that sorted." Sakura smiled. "Hang on."

"Thinking I'm just going to let go willy-nilly?"

"I guess that's a fair point."

She scaled the wall slowly, letting the rest of the group take point and find the more easy-to-grip-to spots. Their climb was slow going, and it took them a good five minutes to even make it up half of the hundred or so feet they needed to climb. It would've taken far less time, but they were trying to conserve as much chakra as possible, which meant a bit of actual rock-climbing added to their normal abilities.

They were about three fourths of the way up around three minutes later when their plan went haywire.

"Ah, you did climb up! Just like I'd thought, hn!"

A blonde figure poked his head out from the lip of the chasm above them. He wore an odd sort of hat with what she could only assume was a bell strung onto it, given the light ringing noise that emanated from him every time he moved. He stuck both of his hands over the edge of the ridge, and he gave them a manic smile.

"Art is…"

To Sakura's immense disgust, the man's palms opened up, revealing tongues a good three or four inches in length that spat out… something from inside of them. A moment later, when said objects began flying at them at high speeds, she realized they were the same white bombs he'd given life to earlier, and she also realized that they were probably screwed.

"An explosion!"

_Really? _A more cynical section of Sakura's mind seemed to call out annoyedly. _This is how I die? A twink throwing a dragonfly at my face?_

Before the lifeless insects truly could blow them up, they were intercepted by a few dozen senbon, which cut into them from the side, and stuck them to the canyon wall. They seemed to struggle for a moment, before exploding on the rock.

Sakura watched attentively, silently wishing she could pay attention to whomever had just saved their lives, but knowing she needed to be on alert, in case any larger rocks fell on her. After all, she may have survived such a fall, but she had a feeling the boy grabbing onto her back wouldn't. One particularly nasty looking boulder was shaken off by the blast, and so Sakura prepared to dodge the projectile.

She unlatched from the wall with her left hand, using the momentum to dodge the rock that fell just off to her left side, and plummeted to the chasm's floor some seventy feet below her. She gulped at seeing the drop and heard Dosu on her back give off a similar noise of discomfort, and she honestly couldn't blame him.

Finally, she looked backwards, seeing if the person who'd arrived truly was who she was hoping to see.

She let out a rasping breath of relief as a new figure gripped onto the wall just in front of her, having, apparently, run up the entire surface in the span of a few moments. Evidently, some people were doing better on chakra than they were.

"Sorry we're late, everyone!" Haku called to them, smiling genially down at the rest of them. "Continue climbing, we'll provide support!"

"Well, you heard the boy!" Anko called, letting her arms fall off of the wall and connecting to it purely with her feet. "Let's move! Protect Sakura and Dosu!"

"Right!"

"Got it!"

"Yeah!"

She appreciated the sentiment, but it wasn't like the rest of them, perhaps sans Anko, were in any real position to be protecting anyone but themselves. Sakura and Sasuke had been kidnapped after a mission, already exhausted and given no time to rest, and then fought Kabuto. Sasuke had been given perhaps a day or two to cool down during the time she was being experimented on, but other than that, they'd been launched straight back into their escape the moment that had ended.

And from what she'd heard, the rest of the group had been fighting for well over a day now. Presumably, nearly every member of their party was running close to empty. Even Anko, with Jonin reserves, seemed to be struggling a bit to make her way to the lip of the chasm, where Haku, and Zabuza, who she'd only just noticed, were locked in combat with the blonde Akatsuki from before.

Her mentor hopped over the edge, and the sounds of combat only grew louder.

She grunted as she began hauling herself up faster, though because of her body having trouble adapting to her curse marks new transformation, her chakra was stunted in the ways it could travel. Sakura could safely say she wasn't used to having problems controlling her chakra, but it certainly wasn't coming easily to her fingers and palms like it used to.

She took a foothold with her right leg and pushed off of it. It proved to be a near deadly mistake, for just as she placed her weight upon it, the rock gave way to the pit below, and she was only barely capable of holding onto the outcroppings before her with her right hand. Dosu swore up something fierce on her backside, but a quick growl from her shut him up in half a second. She couldn't have him distracting her, not if they were going to survive.

She found new purchase, silently prayed this one wouldn't give quite as easily, and pushed up. Luckily for her, it held, and she now was only five or so feet from the top of the chasm. Sakura looked upwards, and her eyes widened as she saw Naruto hanging over the edge rather precariously, offering her his hand.

She took it with a smile, letting the boy pull on her arm a bit helplessly for a moment, before she realized he couldn't exactly support both her and Dosu's weight, which was awkward, given that she'd sort of placed all her weight on him. Luckily, Sasuke came in for the assist a second later, tensing his expression as he and his best friend dragged the two of them up the cliff face, and safe upon the ground once more.

Sakura felt like she could kiss the earth but refrained from doing so. Not for fear of being judged by the others, for she didn't particularly care at that moment what they thought of her, but for fear of taking her eyes off the new figures standing just twenty-five or so feet away.

Standing alongside the new arrivals was the same blonde Akatsuki they'd been dealing with on their way up the chasm. He wasn't badly injured, a few scratches across his entire body, and a few senbon sticking out of him in places, but he didn't exactly look happy, either, and Sakura was pretty sure they had Haku and Zabuza to thank for that. The new figures, on the other hand…

They were familiar in a scary sort of way. Sakura had seen someone who looked just like them for approximately twenty seconds before she'd merged his head with a wall. Still, the color of their hair, a vivid orange, and their eyes, violet and ringed, gave away that something was off about them.

And that was foregoing mentioning the piercings.

Still, there were four of them. One had a fatter face, and a chubbier overall figure, with his hair slicked back. Another long hair that stretched to his chest. The next had hair covering half of his face, and a ponytail that hung behind him, and the final one had a simple spiked haircut, easily the most normal of all the figures Sakura had seen that day.

"Ninjas of the Leaf Village." The normal looking one spoke up, stepping forward with an apathetic confidence, as if sure he could've taken every single one of them, but also not particularly caring about that fact. "I will give you a single opportunity. Surrender the Nine-Tailed Fox, and you may leave with your lives."

"No." Sasuke answered without missing a beat.

Sakura, despite the lapses in her control over herself, and her overall shitty day, couldn't help but laugh slightly at the small shocked expression on the Akatsuki's face before them. If Sakura had to guess, he wasn't shocked about the outcome at all, but more about how the Uchiha hadn't deliberated, even for a moment.

"Hah, what he said." Anko rubbed the back of her neck, before drawing a new kunai out from her bag. "Though, c'mon kid, you couldn't have given us a few seconds to breathe while we pretended to think about it?"

Sasuke coughed awkwardly.

"Eh, not like it would've mattered." Zabuza stepped up, drawing his Executioner's blade from across his back, and holding it outwards at an angle that Sakura could only imagine was hell on his arm. "We just need to kill these freaks. Sooner the better."

"You guys have pretty good timing!" Naruto called amiably at both Haku and Zabuza. "I kind of figured we'd be on our own. How'd you find us?"

"Heard an explosion, just sort of assumed that if something was exploding, it was probably you all." Zabuza shrugged. "Don't take it personally, but you guys have an inordinate ability to get yourselves into trouble, so…"

"No." Naruto sighed out, looking back towards their opponents. "You're… not wrong."

There was a standstill for the next five or so seconds, neither side, the five Akatsuki, nor the ten of them, wanted to make a move first, and risk compromising their positions. In the end, it was, a bit shockingly, Haku who acted first.

The boy drew senbon into his hands and launched them at the figures in front of them, forcing the Akatsuki to scatter, lest their movements be impaired. In that time, the rest of the group sort of silently divvied themselves up. Zabuza and Anko each took one of the weird Orange haired men, the long haired one and the chubbier one, respectively, while she, Naruto, and Sasuke took the normal-looking one, who seemed to regard them with the same casual air he'd been giving them all before.

Off to her left, Sakura watched as the remaining members split down the middle, with Haku and Kiba taking the last of the weird orange dudes, ponytail boy, while Zaku and Kin focused their sights on the Blonde explosives expert. Dosu was sat off to the side, doing his best to recuperate from his injuries.

She focused in on their opponent, watching the way he subtly took a step back, controlling the distance between them. Before he could do anymore than that, Sakura charged in, relying on her curse marks strength to, hopefully, obliterate this guy before he could an attack off.

Such a nice future would obviously not come to pass, for she was blown back by a strange power. She spiraled in midair and realized with no shortage of panic that she was currently barreling towards a giant, hundred or so foot deep hole. She barely managed to grab onto the edge of the chasm with her left hand, though she still slammed into the wall as her momentum was halted.

She coughed, seeing a bit of blood land on the rocks before her, and run down their surfaces.

"SAKURA!" Naruto's voice screamed out in a horrified mess. "YOU OKAY!?"

"I'm fine!" She lied, trying to ignore the fact that she was pretty sure a few of her ribs were very definitely broken. "Give me one second, I'll be right back."

She heard the sounds of combat continue, before forcing her muscles to carry her up the remainder of the cliff face. Luckily, her curse mark was doing a good enough job of blocking out the pain, for she was pretty sure extending her arms, and using her chest and stomach muscles to help lift herself, would've been an abnormally painful thing to do with broken ribs.

She mamaged to get to the top of the cliff once more, and was almost immediately met with the sight of Naruto flying straight toward her. She dashed forward and caught him mid-air, which was, once more, quite uncomfortable, before she looked back towards Sasuke, who was still engaged with their opponent.

Normally, in a hand-to-hand combat scenario, Sasuke would've been able to hold his own against even some Jonin thanks to the Sharingan's enhanced sight. Even now, that was still sort of holding true, but…

It seemed like Sasuke just couldn't shake the man's eyes.

Every time he ducked behind the orange-haired man, trying to land a hit on his backside, he simply blocked the attack without even seeing it.

_It's like he has a set of eyes in the back of his head._

"You alright, Naruto?" She addressed the boy in her grip.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." The boy seemed to be being a bit facetious, but she wouldn't call him on it, given she'd been exactly the same way not a minute prior. "C'mon, we've gotta go help Sasuke!"

"Right!"

The fight wasn't exactly terrible, but it wasn't grand either. They were going even, Sakura could say with fair confidence, only due to the fact that they had double the members of the Akatsuki, and even then, something felt off.

It was like the person they were fighting was purposefully going easy. That, or they really were just worse than Sakura had assumed they would be. In theory, three Genin, well, two Genin and a Chuunin, should've been nowhere near enough to match an S-ranked criminal, but…

Well, they sort of were matching him.

Though, there was a problem with that hypothesis… Namely that they hadn't wounded the man. They hadn't landed even a single scratch on his body, which lead Sakura to think that he may've been toying with them.

_But why!? _She questioned in her mind's eye. _Why would he toy with us? The Nine-Tails is right in front of him, and he already expressed an interest in obtaining it, so why!?_

Her answer came in the form of a singular click. It sounded out from behind her, and she had just enough time to think _'Oh shit' _before she was blasted backwards by another freaking explosion.'

_I hate every damned member of this god forsaken group._

She landed hard on her left side, rolling as she landed and trying not to scream as a sharp, knife-like pain shot up her already-damaged limb. She looked over in concern and saw that both Naruto and Sasuke had managed to avoid being flung back, but neither looked to be in their best condition. The former, especially, had black burn marks all over his clothes. It was more likely that he'd taken the brunt of an explosion, and simply used the Nine-Tails' regeneration to ignore it.

The rest of the group seemed to have suffered similar experiences. Zabuza and Anko had avoided the blasts, but, seeing a likely standstill in the combat as a chance to rest, had done just that. The other Genin besides them had taken the hits, but luckily, none seemed terribly fatal. Even Dosu looked to have been left largely alone, leaning against the remains of a nearby building.

Still, the new arrival was someone she'd never expected to see again.

It was the bald-headed cyborg they'd killed before, the same absent smile stuck upon his face. Beside it hopped out from the abyss another man, who had the same orange haircut and piercings all over his body.

_But… We…_

"We destroyed that guy!" Naruto shouted, pointing at the explosive-ridden cyborg with one hand, seemingly offended. "What the hell!?"

"Pain is absolute." The normal-looking guy they'd been fighting spoke up, and walked towards them, outstretching his hand. "You cannot destroy pain, nor can you escape from it."

She growled, forcing herself to her feet and disregarding the agonizing pain screaming out from her midsection.

That explains what the man apparently named 'Pain' had been holding back for. Why waste ones time with a battle they had a 95% chance of winning, when one could simply stall for a minute, and suddenly have a battle that they have a 100% chance of winning.

Now, it seemed as if Pain would no longer be holding back. His many look-alikes stepped forward along with him, forming an intimidating sort of line that looked like they shouldn't be trifled with.

"Come," The main 'Pain' spoke out. "Nine-Tails."

Without warning, Naruto was pulled forward by some strange phenomena. Despite the boy's audible protests to it, his body was flying towards Pain's outstretched hand, waiting to catch him in his clutches, and, presumably, rip the demon from his body.

Sakura stepped forward, ignoring the pain in her stomach and left arm and preparing to blitz into the enemies formation, wreaking as much havoc as she could. Sasuke looked much the same, already running forward with his Sharingan drawn. Still, their efforts would be unnecessary, given that before the orange-haired man could grab their teammate, a large pile of sand came in between the two of them, catching Naruto in mid-air, and then dragging him back to the rest of the group.

_Wait… what!?_

She recognized the technique, and if she was right, then things had just gotten a lot more complicated.

Another Pain stepped up, this one with his hair drawn back, and a bit of a chubby figure, and stood before the other pains. He held his hands out, and as a blast of wind coursed across the battlefield, he absorbed the ability at the end of it's life, simply taking in the chakra with some odd sort of barrier.

"Tch!" Sakura heard a girl click her tongue from behind her, before stepping up to be just off to her left. "I didn't realize they could absorb Jutsu."

"Heh, guess we'll have to be more careful than we'd thought."

A red-haired boy kneeled down beside their teammate, offering the Jinchuuriki a hand and helping him to his feet.

"Are you alright, Naruto?"

"Y-yeah." The Uzumaki seemed terribly confused, which, to be fair to him, seemed to be a constant among the rest of the group. "Uhm, if I might ask, why are you guys here?"

"Heh," An older teen in a black outfit stepped forward, drawing a few scrolls off of his back and unleashing them. "We got called in by your Hokage."

"Besides, we owed you all one anyways," The young woman beside Sakura turned to her and smiled. "Couldn't go letting you die before we could pay you back."

"Oh?" Pain spoke out, stepping up with a bored look on his face. "And who might you be?"

The three ninja who'd only just showed up all took up confident poses. The eldest drew her fan across her back, holding it behind herself and looking poised to strike at a moments notice. The middle child sent strands of blue energy to his newly summoned puppets, making them move in aggressively in front of him, ready to fly into battle at a moments notice.

The youngest stood in front of both, but the sand floating above him, threatening to encroach upon their enemies position at any time, immediately labeled him as the most threatening of the three.

"We are Sand Shinobi." Gaara uttered with an easy smile.

"Allies of the Leaf."

**End Chapter 53**

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**Yo!**

**On the lack of a chapter last week, despite me saying there would be one:**

**Unfortunately, two weeks ago, literally the day after I posted the last chapter, my family and I received the news that our Dog's cancer had relapsed. It had made it to his jaw, and unfortunately, that's a fatal diagnosis. We had to put him down only a few days later, and I can admit truthfully that this story was just about the last thing on my mind at the time.**

**I'm still a bit sad, but I've dealt with my grief on the matter, and I wanted to at the very least address the lack of an update last week.**

**So yeah, I wrote half of this chapter two weeks ago, and then basically didn't touch it for an entire week, so my thoughts were jumbled, and kind of sporadic. This is probably the worst chapter of the fic, honestly? Eh, I needed to release something, so, y'know, here you go.**

**So yeah, we're returning to weekly updates now. T-minus... Let's say four weeks til the end of this arc, and then we'll be going on Hiatus for a bit. Not like a year or anything, more like a few weeks to a month. Still, it could end up being longer than that until we get to the Hiatus, this arc could end up taking five or six more chapters, so who knows.**

**Anyways, see you all (probably) next week!**


	54. Chapter 54

**Without further ado, .-.. . - ... / -. . - / .. -. - - / .. - !**

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**Chapter 54: Scatter to the Wind  
**

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Sasuke wasn't going to pretend like the sand siblings' arrival had solved all of their problems, but he also wasn't going to complain about having another three ninjas on their side at the moment.

Especially when all three of them were Chuunin level, easy. Hell, Kankuro and Temari had easily gotten stronger since they'd last fought, each wielding a new tool in combat. The former, a new puppet, one that looked a bit like a cage of all things. The latter, a weasel with a scythe she'd summoned forth on her fan, which seemed to have been reinforced slightly since last he'd seen it.

Gaara was perhaps the only one of them who'd idled in place. If anything, Sasuke thought the sand the boy employed was moving _slower _than it had the last time they'd fought. He wasn't entirely sure why that would be, but he did have a guess.

_He might've turned down power… for the chance to live a normal life._

On a regular day, he might've smiled at that, but, well… it might've sounded selfish, but they kind of needed power more than good vibes at the moment. Not to mention…

"So, the One-Tail has appeared as well." The man named Pain stepped forward, a blank expression on his pale face. "How convenient that we shall capture both here today."

They'd gone and brought another Tailed-Beast into the equation, another way they could lose this battle. Now, if either Naruto or Gaara got captured…

_No. _He snapped himself out of his bleak thoughts. _We won't let that happen. We just need to buy ourselves some space, and then we can get the hell out of here!_

_We won't lose anyone! _He promised himself.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Zabuza and Haku, having paired back up with the arrival of the sand trio, battling the blonde Akatsuki from before. It looked like they were winning pretty substantially, but if Sasuke were to guess, then the man across from them wasn't exactly a good short-ranged fighter.

The idea was confirmed a moment later, when Zabuza's sword cut down the man's body, forming a huge gash in his chest and stomach that looked like it wouldn't be healing without medical attention. A moment later, he swung back up, and lopped off the man's right arm.

Far from panicking, the blonde grabbed his arm and bought himself space, using the time that Zabuza and Haku had assumed he'd be reeling during to get behind the wall of Pain-lookalikes. Two of them stepped in front of the blonde, having broken away from their own battles with Kiba and Anko, the former of which had been blown back when Haku went to assist his master, and the latter of which was clearly exhausted, having gone as even as she could with her opponent.

Still, as the blonde looked to finally be processing the loss of his arm, one of the mirror-images held his hand out, and a horrifying figure rose from the earth. It was… hard to describe. It was a face, Sasuke was fairly sure. The head wore a simple dress around it, and it had the same eyes as the rest of the Pain replicas, but what really stood out to Sasuke were the wrappings around the things mouth, which soon fell away, revealing a gaping maw that looked large enough to swallow a man whole.

"Deidara." The main pain spoke to the man apparently named 'Deidara'. "Step inside."

The blonde didn't exactly look thrilled with that prospect, but he nodded anyways, jumping backward and into the waiting jaws of the spiky-haired pains summon. The mouth closed around him, and the first thing Sasuke heard was a blood-curtling scream.

It stopped almost all movement across the battlefield, or, well, it stopped that of the Leaf Ninja. The other Pain's seemed to merely use it as a distraction, gaining ground on their opponents who were then forced to zone back into their battles.

After a few seconds, the agonized yells ceased, and the maw opened up once more. Out from it stepped Deidara, his clothes still in tatters, but his body completely healed. His arm had even been reattached, and there weren't any signs of scarring. It was as if the injury simply hadn't happened at all.

"Hah… Pain my man…" Deidara spoke through his teeth, seething silently as he looked angrily at his compatriot. "Next time, let me know that's going to be like going through hell _beforehand, _hn!?"

Pain ignored his associates shouting, instead focusing back in on the rest of their group. Sasuke took a step towards Naruto, wanting to be in front of him in case the man tried pulling him again. Best case, he couldn't pull Naruto with someone in front of him, and worst case, Sasuke would just grab him out of the air.

The fighting started once more on the outskirts, as Deidara launched a few of his explosive creations at their group. It had taken Sasuke a while to realize what they were, largely because his focus during their skirmish hadn't been on the ex-Stone ninja, but as he gazed at the man with his Sharingan active now, he recognized the material the man was sculpting his creatures out of was an odd type of chakra-ridden clay.

He didn't particularly have the time to question the logistics of the man's ability any more than that, and so he merely passed the information around.

"Zabuza, Anko, Haku!" He called to their most skilled fighters, waiting until he was sure they were listening to him after the latter boy knocked Deidara's new creations out of the sky with his senbon. "He's making those things out of clay, but he's keeping it stored in the left side of his cloak. If you're going to hit him, hit him there! That'll cripple his abilities!"

He'd caught that little detail with his Sharingan as well, though he himself wouldn't be able to use it. Instead, he had to focus back in on what he could only assume was the primary 'Pain', the one who seemed to possess the ability to push and pull.

Sakura stepped in front of the both of them, clutching her stomach with her right arm. Both were injured, a hole having been carved into her right arm, and a few ribs broken in her chest, if his analysis of her walking patterns was correct. The Sharingan gave him an extraordinarily powerful observational ability, yet he had a habit of using it to watch his teammates, instead of the villains he should probably have been focusing on.

Sasuke nodded to the girl as she looked back, giving her the signal to advance. She did so, dashing into Pain's guard and bringing a fist to bare. He launched the girl back a good twenty feet, but Sasuke had figured something out from fighting this guy for a while…

His push and pull were connected, and, more importantly, they had a cooldown period.

It was around five seconds, and he was fairly sure there was no difference between push and pull in terms of time of recovery, so he began counting inside his head. He focused as hard as he could with his Sharingan, catching a kunai that Naruto threw to him and flipping it around on his finger. He'd gone through every single one he had in his bag earlier that day, having most of them stolen when the sound ninjas had come to collect them, and the rest lost in battles.

_5…_

They ducked into Pain's guard, but the man was an expert. Sasuke had been able to see he'd merely been toying with them earlier with his enhanced eyes, but even still, he'd taken the training wheels off for real this time.

_4…_

A quick hit here, a smooth block there, and both he and Naruto found themselves blown back, unable to duel Pain at close range any further.

_3…_

Sasuke decided on a dime to switch strategies. He formed the seals for the Fireball Jutsu as fast as he physically could and unleashed it. In that same time span, Naruto summoned a shadow clone beside him, and brought his own Rasengan to bear, charging at Pain and hoping to use Sasuke's own Jutsu as a distraction.

_2…_

The fireball was dodged, much like Sasuke had expected, but that still gave Naruto the room he needed to converge on their opponent. His best friend shouted as he brought his Rasengan back, preparing to slam it into Pain's stomach.

_1…_

But the ninja dodged Naruto's attack. He doubled back, giving Naruto room to breathe that he really didn't want. Sasuke had recovered from his moment of exhaustion, having thrown out his fireball while already quite low on chakra, and was on his friends heels. They almost had him, and Naruto's Rasengan was still spinning in the boy's hand, still ready to be unleashed.

They were on Pain in the next moment, both bringing their weapons to bare. They were so close…

"Almighty Push!"

But not close enough. Both he and Naruto were blasted backwards, bouncing, and skidding across the dirt. Sasuke accrued more than a few scrapes and bruises before he stopped rolling, but by that time, the damage had been done.

Pain had been able to force distance between them. He'd been able to wound the both of them before they could do a single thing, hell, they hadn't even knicked him…

Or at least, that might've been what Pain thought.

_Now, Sakura!_

The girl jumped up from behind Pain's back, taking his blind spot in a moment where the man was still cooling down. He had no way of seeing her coming, no counter to the ability, he stepped forward, even, still thinking they were about to be defeated…

And then, at the last possible moment, he sidestepped Sakura's blow.

The force of the punch sent the ground spiraling outwards, forcing not just Pain, but both he and Naruto to jump away from the epicenter. Sasuke cursed in mid-air, unable to understand just how the man had been able to avoid a punch he shouldn't have had any opportunity to see coming.

There was always the chance that he'd simply assumed they'd try something of that nature, which, while fair given the caliber of enemy they were facing, didn't explain Pain's behavior towards them. If he'd expected an attack, he would've simply turned towards Sakura, ignoring the two enemies he'd already placed out of commission. Instead, it was as if the man had eyes in the back of his head, being fully able to see Sakura, and evade at the exact moment of impact.

_Just what the hell are these guys!?_ Sasuke couldn't help but wonder.

His attention was briefly demanded by a movement on the outside of the battle. He turned towards the sand trio, who were dueling against one of the five other Pain look-alikes. It seemed slow-going, but also in their favor.

Kankuro dodged backwards, narrowly ducking underneath the cyborg-pain's buzzsaw-tail-thingy. He moved his puppets forward, capturing the large creature inside of the cage-looking-one, and then splitting Crow up into many pieces. He forced those pieces into the holes in the coffin, effectively killing whatever was inside.

Unfortunately for him, however…

"That won't kill it!" Sasuke shouted, drawing Kankuro's attention, and the rest of his team's, for that matter. "It's got some weird machine parts! It's not going to go down unless you break it to bits!"

Kankuro seemed to doubt him, but a moment later, his puppet rattled, as if being broken apart from the inside. Before it could be entirely breached, Kankuro unleashed the cyborg inside, allowing it to spill out of it's confines. It had wounds all over it's body, but only around half of them were actually bleeding.

_We aren't winning this… and we can't even buy ourselves a second to make a get-away! _Sasuke screamed inside his head, fighting with his own mind to come up with some semblance of a plan. _How the hell do we get away from these guys!?_

Another Pain jumped in front of Sasuke and Naruto. This one was the summoner that had chased Naruto and the rest of their group down the corridors of Orochimaru's layer. Much like the rest of its… Sasuke hesitated to use the term 'brethren', it stared at them blankly, as if it weren't truly even there.

It formed a series of seals so fast that Sasuke barely had time to comprehend them. It was nearly able to slam its hands into the ground before Naruto charged in, a shadow clone just barely preventing the final seal from being formed. Instead, the summoner hopped back, ten, twenty paces, until it was stood behind two other Pains. The main one they'd been fighting, and another, who Sasuke had come to understand had the ability to absorb chakra.

_And I'm not exactly swimming in the stuff either. _Sasuke panted lightly, trying to draw more chakra from out of his core and into his chest, molding it into flame. _I've got… not enough for a Chidori, but enough to force out another Fireball. After that though…_

He heard a small yell from back where the sand trio stood, and turned to look at just what could be the problem now. Weirdly enough, it was Kankuro of all people who'd shouted. He was looking down at his puppets with a horribly confused expression.

"What the hell?" The boy shouted suddenly. "Oi! Crow, Black Ant, why the hell aren't you responding to me!?"

"They're not responding," A new voice, raspy, sounding almost like a whisper despite the distance it carried, called out from beyond their line of sight. "Because I've cut your connections to them. I must say, you're truly quite advanced for your age."

_A… man?_ Sasuke was really getting tired of everyone in the Akatsuki looking super damned weird. _He sounds like a man, but that body…_

The 'man' who'd stepped into their little clearing (And Sasuke could only refer to what had just a few hours ago been the middle of the Sound Village as a clearing presumably because of the Akatsuki around them) walked more like a tortoise than any human he'd seen. He shuffled forward, eyes set upon Kankuro, but there was a certain lifelessness in his pupils, not to mention the way they moved almost robotically, that seemed to scream they were fake.

"It's a shame you've met me so early. Yours could've truly been a lengthy and successful career." Suddenly, a bladed edge emerged from the man's backside, almost resembling a scorpion's tail. "But I hate to keep people waiting most of all. Die without delay."

The object pierced through the air, gunning for Kankuro at an intense speed. The younger puppet-master brought up 'Crow', which looked like it might be able to match the strike with it's body, but the new arrivals' tail simply ducked underneath it, embedding itself in the earth. It reemerged only a moment later, cutting up into Kankuro's guard and stabbing him in the stomach.

The boy winced, but a pocket of sand had blocked the attack. Gaara's chakra-filled particles surrounded the tail and crunched down upon it. A sound that seemed more like the crushing of wood than the collapsing of metal to Sasuke sounded out across the Sound Village, and when the new Akatsuki brought his tail back, it was to find it severely damaged, snapped in multiple places.

"Oh. I see." The inanimate man turned to Pain. "Is he…?"

"The One-Tail. Yes."

"How droll. Deidara, I leave that one to you."

"Eh, a little busy here, Sasori!" The blonde shouted, narrowly avoiding Zabuza's massive blade as it sailed over his head. "I could use some help!"

'Sasori' groaned, before shuffling towards Deidara. Luckily, that meant their superior teammates would be holding off two Akatsuki…

But it didn't change anything for Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura, not to mention Kiba, Zaku, Kin, and the sand trio, who were still stuck with a combined six 'Pains'. Dosu's condition also wasn't getting any better without medical attention. He might not have been bleeding out, but he was a sitting duck off to the side, practically waiting to be held hostage.

_The longer this drags on, the less chance we have of getting out._

An idea struck him a moment later that was both incredibly idiotic and the kind of thing they'd probably get away with doing. He turned towards Sakura, seeing the way the girl tensed as she watched Zaku and Kin dodge a particularly brutal strike from a Pain, and grabbed her by the shoulder.

"What is-" She turned towards him suddenly, aggression in her gaze that evaporated when she saw who he was. "Sasuke?"

"I have an idea." He uttered quietly. "And I need your help."

He explained it to her quickly and watched as light seemed to return to her eyes. He had a feeling that the curse mark had been affecting Sakura more than she'd been letting on, given the way her eyes had shifted away from them rather often back in the catacombs of Orochimaru's compound. Seeing her fully cognizant, however, was as good as he felt he'd be getting for the time being, so he settled back on the plan.

"What do you think?" He asked quietly, not taking his eyes off of Pain, who was dueling a few dozen of Naruto's shadow clones, which he seemed to summon from the Nine-Tails' reserves. "Will it work?"

"…Maybe?" Sakura answered honestly, a small lilt at the back of her voice that gave off a doubtful impression. "Sorry, I mean… Yeah. I should be able to mimic her, at least to some extent. It won't be as controlled-"

"That's more than fine." Sasuke nodded. "We need raw force, not control."

"Then I suppose I'm your gal."

He turned towards the Sand siblings, who'd broken off of the cyborg Pain they'd been fighting, and were now struggling to deal with the Akatsuki puppet-master, who'd helped Deidara enough to give him back a good position. It probably also helped the man that one of Pain's look-alikes had joined him, forming a two man squad that was more than able to contend with Anko, Zabuza, and Haku.

They had little time before they were overwhelmed. Honestly, they were lucky that three of the 'Pains' were still sitting back and waiting. They seemed to be the most valuable, and Sasuke recognized two of the three as the summoner and healer, respectively. It was a smart move, as it wasn't like the Akatsuki needed to over index to defeat them. They could keep their utility in reserve just in case they pulled something crazy out of nowhere.

He approached the real Naruto, watching as the last of the boy's clones were blasted away by Pains' almighty push, and tapped him on the shoulder. He filled the boy in on the plan as quickly as he could, and watched as a confident expression took over the boy's face.

"It'll work." He reaffirmed simply. "I have faith in her."

"Same here. Can you get that information to the other groups? And send a clone to get Dosu as well."

"Right, got it." The boy seemed to strain for a moment, grunting as he summoned four more shadow clones. "I've gotta' be honest, though… that's it for my chakra."

"Heh, so even you have a limit?"

Naruto snorted.

"Be an ass later." His clones all stuck their tongues out as Sasuke, to which he simply scoffed.

They charged towards the four groups, Anko, Zabuza, and Haku; the sand trio; Zaku and Kin; and lastly Dosu, who had luckily been left mostly alone as he leaned against the remnants of a broken-down building. A moment later, after seemingly communicating the message, they charged back in, this time rounding on Pain and trying to attack him.

The man dealt with them easily enough, and Naruto sighed.

"Figured I may as well use them to try and beat him up instead of just letting them dissipate."

Sasuke nodded, agreeing with his friend's logic. It was a shame they were so vastly outclassed that none of their more usual techniques were working at all.

"Gah!"

He turned, seeing that Zaku had been knocked back a few feet, having taken a blow to the side of his head. Kin, in turn, was forced to jump backwards, holding onto Zaku, and launching them both backwards. She threw out a few senbon with bells tied to the ends, but even her signature attack felt more like a diversion than anything else.

"Sakura, if you're going to do that plan, make it soon, thanks!" Kin shouted angrily.

She wasn't angry at her friend, that much, at least, was clear. She was upset with the situation they'd been thrust into, to which Sasuke could very much agree. He turned towards Sakura herself, and watched the way she held her hand out below her, taking a stance not too dissimilar from the one he'd use to charge Chidori.

Her hand was glowing with chakra, just like his might, but hers was going to be used… just a bit differently.

"This is all of it." Sakura spoke through gritted teeth. "I'm using all of my remaining chakra… just… give the signal!"

Sasuke nodded, taking the kunai that Naruto had given him and chucking it towards the furthest group from them. Zabuza saw it pass by and impact against a tree, and from what little Sasuke could pick out, the man was communicating the next course of action.

Namely, that they were running.

The three practically flew backwards, much to the surprise of Deidara, who had, because of his long-ranged style, been putting distance between himself and the close-ranged fighters before him. Unsurprisingly, the cyborg Pain who'd joined him retained his blank smile.

"Gaara!" Naruto shouted, and Sasuke saw the sand ninja turn. In response, Naruto merely nodded.

The sand trio pulled back as well, barely managing to avoid their puppet-master opponents' tail, which sailed by, cresting against the edge of Gaara's sand armor, but not leaving any marks beneath.

Kin, Zaku, and the now carried Dosu did likewise. Kin seemed less than thrilled to be carrying her teammate while Zaku got off scot-free, but her teammate had taken a blow to the head, which meant he definitely shouldn't be lifting anyone anytime soon. Still, as the sound trio forced some distance between them and the Pain they'd been dealing with…

_That's our cue._

"Sakura!" He shouted, running until he was a few feet behind her, and waiting until Naruto had passed him as well. "Nail it!"

The girl acknowledged, her curse mark's evolved form rippling with power, power that seemed to coalesce and focus into a ball of pure energy, located directly in the girl's right hand. She held it aloft, building power and momentum, until, with a shrieking scream, she slammed it into the earth below.

Sasuke was already running by the time the girl had done it, but that didn't stop him from getting blasted off his feet. The earth rippled and quaked beneath him, launching upwards in massive chunks of dirt and rock. He chanced a look behind him, seeing as Sakura dug her hand out of the earth, and gripped onto it, seemingly in immense pain. Zabuza, Anko, and Haku were the only ones still stuck on the other side, but they were more advanced ninja than they were.

The trio hopped across the cascading earth that flowed like waves, making it to Sakura in only a moment. Anko grabbed the girl, and propelled the both of them forward. Upon seeing his teammate safe, Sasuke himself booked it.

The first step of their plan, at the very least, had gone off without a hitch. He'd gotten the idea from watching Tsunade fight Kabuto and Orochimaru the first time he'd seen her. Her Jutsu had been devastating, though, it wasn't as if it had hit anything but earth.

Still, hitting earth was exactly what they'd ended up needing here. Sakura hadn't exactly possessed the fine-tuned control to not waste a crap-load of the stuff doing it, but she'd been able to mimic the ability well enough by pumping her fist full of an inordinate amount of energy. Luckily, that'd been enough.

No one had been caught in Sakura's wake, which was a good thing, because he truly hadn't been sure what they would've done if someone had been.

As they made it to the very edge of the effects range, having ran at a speed Sasuke hadn't truly thought himself capable of, they turned back around, gazing at the Akatsuki.

Deidara had taken flight with another bird from before, but everyone else had been swallowed by the earth. Well, it wasn't like they'd sunken in, but at the very least, they'd been blasted away by the effect. Hopefully, if what Sasuke was hoping would happen came to pass…

The ground cracked and buckled, forming a massive schism that started perhaps a hundred feet from the edge of the chasm just off to their right. The very earth below them began slipping out from under their feet, and, for Sasuke at least, that was their moment to put as much distance between themselves and the Akatsuki as possible.

He ran against the current, just barely getting beyond where the ground was collapsing. Despite what should've been their moment of triumph, Sasuke heard a small yelp. He looked ahead, seeing Naruto being pulled backwards by an invisible force.

Sasuke growled as he turned his body, quickly scanning the horizon for the main Pain. He spotted him almost instantaneously, hand extended as he went down with the flow of rocks into the canyon.

_He's trying to take Naruto with him! _Sasuke focused hard on channeling chakra to his visual cortex. _Like hell I'll let that happen!_

He hadn't exactly mastered the ability he was about to try and pull off, but he'd certainly gotten… better at it. Practicing with Naruto and Jiraiya, utilizing it against his best friend when he'd been conquered by the Nine-Tails, or against Gaara when the boy had been controlled. Hell, even Kisame of all people he'd been able to stop.

So, what was some asshole who'd given himself the name 'Pain' going to do to stop him?

He focused hard, dashing into Naruto's path and locking eyes with Pain. In that split second, he felt a large but not overpowering pain in the back of his skull. It wasn't nearly as intense as when he'd used it on instinct before. If anything, he would've called it tame compared to then. Still, he watched as the man beyond them stiffened, his hand still elevated.

Naruto collided with his back, sending them both sprawling to the ground and rolling a few times. He realized with no small degree of panic that they were hovering over the pit below as well, and the ground beneath them would fall into it soon.

"Naruto," He shouted down at his best friend, trying to rouse him from his pain-induced reeling. "We have to move!"

The boy stared up at him, then around at the mud flow currently gunning for the pit a hundred or so feet below them, and wisely answered "Right!".

They dashed forward, jumping from falling rock to tumbling boulder as they made their way back up the collapsing cliff. He heard Sakura shout their names, and felt a boost of energy in his body that he'd really needed. It propelled him forward just enough, allowing him to temporarily ignore his exhaustion and power through it.

He leaped the final gap, landing solidly on terra firma, and checked to make sure Naruto had as well. His eyes widened as the footing the boy had been using suddenly collapsed, but Sasuke narrowly managed to close the distance and grasp the boy's outstretched hand, pulling him up the remainder of the cliff face. Sakura ran over as well, kneeling down between the two of them and showing a genuine expression of worry that looked oddly out of place on her cursed features.

His best friend breathed heavily, evidently still running entirely on adrenaline. Sasuke gazed past him, looking into the chasm below. The falling dirt, rock, and mud had kicked up a hell of a lot of dust and particles, but luckily, it seemed that the six 'Pains' and the weird puppet-master had been swallowed up.

As for Deidara, however…

"Hey, you assholes!" The blonde Akatsuki shouted loudly, reaching his hand into his coat and pulling out a large figurine. "Think you can dupe us, hn!?"

Sasuke glared at the man, and for perhaps the first time that fight, the two of them made eye-contact. Deidara's eyes widened to nearly comical proportions, and Sasuke saw recognition in them, though from where, he wasn't quite sure, given that he was almost positive they'd never met before.

"I knew you looked familiar!" The man screamed out suddenly, brow furrowing in anger as his coat billowed in the wind. "You're that bastard Itachi's brother, aren't you!?"

"What of it?"

"Oi, kid." Zabuza called out to him, already preparing to dive back into the forest at the edge of the village. "No time for this, let's go!"

_I know that, but… if he knows something about Itachi…_

_…Damnit!_

He turned, dashing towards the rest of the group with Sakura and Naruto in tow. Deidara screamed behind them, but they ignored it, at least until his owl was suddenly flying above them, preparing to drop bombs on them.

"You think I'll let you get away, hn!?"

"Don't panic, keep running." Gaara spoke as the ground beneath him made a horrid grinding noise, as if being crushed into tiny bits and pieces. "I'll guard us from that one's attacks."

"No need."

It was his sister's voice. Temari ground to a halt a few feet from Gaara, drawing her fan back across her back and preparing to swing it. Evidently, she'd lost her summon at some point during their engagement, but it seemed she still had plenty of chakra, for wind began gathering at the edges of her weapon.

"Against anyone else, taking to the skies might give you an advantage…" The girl muttered under her breath. "But against me?"

She swung her fan, launching hundreds if not thousands of sharp tufts of air at the Akatsuki above, who had no way of dodging even most of them, let alone all of them.

"It just makes you an easier target!"

Deidara didn't take any hits, but his owl was eviscerated. He fell to the ground some twenty feet below, landing badly and grunting out. He shot his hands out and opened the mouths embedded in them, firing off some ten or twenty spiders, which puffed out into larger and more intimidating creatures a moment later. Unfortunately for him, they were struck by a few dozen senbon from both Haku and Kin, who shared a small smile as they turned back towards the group.

"C'mon, ignore that guy and let's move!" Zabuza shouted. "They won't be able to chase us nearly as easily once we make it into the woods, so go!"

They followed the man's orders, charging after him as he led the way. Sasuke saw the ancient trunks of the trees ahead of them and did his best not to let go of the tension in his heart quite yet.

Just in case, before they made it out of the Sound, something else came along.

"Oh!" A voice suddenly called out, echoing in and around the buildings around them. A figure emerged from out of the ground, standing in the middle of the pathway out of the village. "My apologies for being so late! I was held up something fierce!"

Sasuke recognized the figure, but not by sight. It was a memory in his head, a description he'd received from Sakura back when they'd discussed the perpetrator's of Danzo's demise. A masked man with short black hair, and a spiraling orange porcelain mask.

_This is Tobi. _Sasuke put together, feeling his breathing begin to get slightly erratic. _He's the one who said the Uchiha Massacre… was partly Danzo's doing._

_What else do you know? _He only just held himself back from asking.

His gaze followed the man's body, sizing him up, seeing if he could learn anything from the way the man moved with his Sharingan. He could see inside the man's mask with it, but only through the singular hole over his eye, and what was beneath wasn't particularly impressive. A slightly scarred face, but that was all he could make out.

He disregarded that, instead letting his eyes wander across the man's form. He picked up some subtle cues from the way the man's hands and feet were positioned, but they weren't enough to build a character on, or to do much else.

The object in his right hand, however, was a bit different in that regard.

It was a severed head.

"Oh, interested?" Tobi asked, calling out to him with a childlike glee as he held the still-bleeding object out for all to see. "Y'see, this here head belongs to Orochimaru of the Sannin!"

His eyes widened, taking a small step back as a kernel of fear blossomed in his chest. He… wasn't exactly sure of the man's claim that this was Orochimaru. The face did somewhat resemble him, but…

The neck looked to have been created from several hundred small white snakes. They were clearly inanimate now, though he might've considered the chance that they were alive not more than a few minutes ago. Still, the matted black hair and designs around the eyes did, somewhat, remind him of Orochimaru.

Which was a disturbing prospect to consider. If the man before them had killed Orochimaru, and done it in such a way that, once more, he hadn't even been injured…

"Just who the hell are you!?" Sasuke called out, trying to hold his emotions down, but being slightly overwhelmed by the prospect of learning more about the Uchiha Massacre, about the history of the Leaf Village…

About his brother and clan.

"Oh, but… I thought I introduced myself…" Tobi rubbed the back of his head, before hanging it awkwardly, looking like he wanted to leave. "I can't believe you forgot my name… I guess you don't care about Tobi like he does about you…"

He hated the act the man before them was putting on. He hated the way his posture shifted from that of a prepared ninja to a whiny child, completely dropping his guard and not bothering with defending himself at all. He hated the way that Zabuza sailed right through him, becoming ethereal in some unexplainable way. He hated the way that, a moment later, Haku's needles flew through him, and Sakura's water bullet passed through as well, impacting against the supports for the 'Welcome to the Sound Village' sign just above the man.

It broke off, crashing down upon Tobi in a way that should've at least injured him, and yet, once more, he simply passed through it, picking at his ear with one finger and looking incredibly bored.

He hated it.

"Fine, ignore this guy!" Zabuza shouted, signaling for them all to follow. "C'mon, we're getting out of here!"

Sasuke could agree, but a part of him called out that it wasn't going to be that easy.

Not with the Akatsuki.

"Oh, wait, wait, wait!" Tobi called suddenly, reaching out feebly to try and stop them. "I-if you don't stop, I'll have to use my mega powerful Jutsu and make you!"

It wasn't an idle threat, even if the man made it sound like it should've been. This was the ninja who'd killed Danzo, who'd killed Orochimaru. Even if it had been the man's partner, Zetsu, doing most of the work both times…

_He's still an S-class ninja. _Sasuke thought, eyes narrowing as he ran past the still panicking Tobi. _Anyone in the Akatsuki is. We can't be too careful around him._

The entire group made it past Tobi, diving into the forest, and thinking, just for a moment, that they were home free. They hopped into the trees, gaining height so that when Deidara caught up to them, they could fight him for real.

Without warning, however, their pursuer emerged from a tree in front of them, any semblance of a joking atmosphere completely gone.

Tobi reared back and threw Orochimaru's severed head at Zabuza, who dodged the object with ease. It didn't stop the spray of viscera as it hit the ground some fifty feet below from being any less disgusting, however.

"Perhaps I wasn't clear," The man's voice was different now. It was exactly as Sakura had described it, back when she'd been giving her report to Naruto, Tsunade, and him. The man's entire mood had shifted on a dime, and now, he seemed like a fully competent, fully dangerous enemy ninja.

One to be underestimated under penalty of death.

But even still, Sasuke wasn't prepared for the man's next move. He watched with his Sharingan as the man's right eye tensed suddenly, and a design spun to life inside of it that Sasuke didn't know, but one that sent a chill of ice down his spine.

"Stop." Tobi spoke simply, a pinwheel-like Mangekyou looking down upon them inside his mask, "Or I'll make you stop."

**End Chapter 54**

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**I can't believe Orochimaru's really dead. I'm screaming and crying rn this can't be true.  
**

**I'm going to very briefly complain about Pain's forms being ridiculously hard to keep track of during a longer fight, and that's for me, the writer, so I apologize if the action regarding them is like... really confusing.**

**Anyways, we've had two solo-chapters in a row, i.e. no moving from perspective to perspective. That'll probably continue next week with the golden boy himself. Or... Maybe it won't. Who knows.**

**Anyways, see you then!**


	55. Chapter 55

**Without further ado...**

* * *

**Chapter 55: Human to the Bitter End  
**

* * *

Naruto tensed as their assailant caught up with them almost instantaneously. He'd known there was a high chance they hadn't lost someone strong enough to be an Akatsuki by running past him, but still…

He'd kind of been hoping just one thing could go right for them today.

Tobi's singular exposed eye now glowed a faint red, and he looked to his side to see Sasuke breathing heavily, almost hyperventilating. He tapped the boy on his arm, and Sasuke was drawn out of his mind, though he still looked worse for wear.

"That's four Mangekyou." The man spoke quietly. "Itachi… he… he lied to me. I'm sure of it now."

Naruto wasn't quite sure why that would come as a surprise to his best friend, given the conduct of his brother's character being less than stellar, but he didn't voice that thought.

The S-Ranked Ninja charged a Jutsu, expelling it in a massive rain of fire. Before it could hit and annihilate their entire squad, they were forced to lower their altitudes, attempting to run by the Akatsuki underneath him in the tree line. Unfortunately, Tobi seemed to have accounted for that, for he simply melted into the branch below him, passing straight through it and landing in front of their group again, looking unfazed.

They were now only twenty or so feet from the ground, but they couldn't just give up. This time, it was the Jonin who tried to form a distraction, with the both of them charging at Tobi and trying to draw him into combat.

The man instead squatted down on the branch he'd been stood upon, placed his hand under his chin, and looked terribly bored as he allowed their respective blades to pass through him.

It seemed as if they had no chance of escaping the man, and yet the group tried anyways, taking to the ground of the forest below them and attempting to dash right past. They failed once more, as Tobi sunk through the tree he'd been standing upon, landing in front of their group and yawning into one of his hands.

_Damnit, what the hell!? _Naruto shouted angrily inside his head. _How the hell do we beat a guy who can make himself stop existing!?_

Tobi, who brushed some of the dirt and dust off of his outfit with a casual air, turned his eye on both Naruto and Gaara, and the Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki flinched away from his gaze. It was an odd, almost indescribably primal feeling. It wasn't a fear he could describe, but simple a feeling in his chest. The Nine-Tails was…

_Afraid._

He knew why, as well. The Nine-Tails had come out and told him earlier that very day, telling the tale of the one named Tobi, and how he'd placed the fox under a Genjutsu, one that made him assault the Leaf Village. He hadn't thought to ask what the Foxes will was regarding that matter, if he'd minded attacking the Leaf, or simply hadn't cared, but it wasn't like it mattered.

The only thing that mattered was that the man in front of them was staggeringly powerful, perhaps even more so than their entire group put together. A terrifying prospect, but not an unfair one. This was an organization that had collecting every Tailed-Beast as their mission, which would make them an enemy of almost every country on the face of the planet.

And that meant they were prepared for that eventuality.

"Still, I must admit, I didn't think you'd make it past Pain." He head swiveled from Naruto, to Sasuke and Sakura. "The three of you truly are an awfully potent combination. I'm sure you'd have been world-shakers yourselves one day."

A noise at the edge of the clearing caught their attention, and with a horrifying edge, Naruto turned to see just about the last people he'd wanted to.

Kisame, Itachi, and what seemed to be the man named 'Zetsu', judging from Sakura's report back in Tsunade's office. The three walked into their little clearing without much care, looking to all the world disinterested.

"Oh, _You're _here." Kisame spoke towards Tobi, and though Naruto tried to catch the other man's reaction to the shark's words, he narrowly missed it. "Oh, and the entourage as well, how's everybody doing?"

Their group backed into one another, forming a tight-knit circle around Dosu that wouldn't have been broken by half of the ninja in the world.

Of course, any of the ninja around them could've done it in a heartbeat.

Naruto noticed now, as he was forced to face Kisame, that the man actually had someone slung across his shoulder. A brief inspection had Naruto's eyes widening as he recognized the man there.

It was Kabuto.

From the looks of things, the sound ninja had had a pretty rough go of it. Even from what little Naruto could see of the man's outfit, most of it concealed behind Kisame's massive bulk, it had been ripped to near shreds. He assumed that had to do with fighting the shark, himself, and the man's sword, which ripped and tore at whatever it cut.

Naruto could understand that feeling, at least, since he'd been on that end of it himself.

He was brought back to focusing in on their group as Zaku, shoulder to shoulder with him on his right side, slipped slightly. He gazed however briefly down at the boy, but what he saw did the opposite of inspire confidence in him.

Zaku's entire posture was off. He was slumping as if exhausted, but Naruto knew the real reason he was nearly falling over. He'd been wounded badly by one of Pain's forms, taking a blow to the side of the head that had left him reeling, needing Kin to come in and bail him out. It was clear, however, that the boy had likely suffered a concussion at the very least. Hell, He was only barely holding his eyes open.

It didn't help that they were carrying around Dosu, who was, at this point, only a liability on their combat strength. They protected him because they knew if the enemy got their hands on him, held him hostage, demanded anything of them…

This was probably over.

"Itachi." Sasuke spat from off to his left, teeth grinding as he addressed his brother with complete disdain.

"Sasuke." Itachi murmured apathetically. "I wasn't expecting to see you here."

Sasuke practically hissed at the man's words, but was stopped by Zabuza, who elbowed the boy lightly in his stomach.

"Calm. No getting angry. Right now, anything that throws you off your game **will** get you and your friends killed."

Naruto saw Sasuke swallow, and whether he had been purging such thoughts from his mind, or was trying to cut down on his nerves, he couldn't tell.

"Right."

The Akatsuki around them didn't move, but Naruto had the sneaking suspicion that wasn't because they were nervous. If anything, they were taking this slow because they could. It wasn't like any of the Akatsuki, individually, could be matched by any of them. They'd only been able to match Deidara due to a stylistic difference in the man's Jutsu. Naruto had a feeling that if the man had been able to retain the distance he'd set for himself…

They wouldn't have had a chance.

"Right." Zabuza spoke up suddenly, startling Naruto back into action. "Here's the deal, you're going to follow my orders, exactly as I say them, and as soon as I say them, clear?"

A chorus of acknowledgements sounded out, and Zabuza took a single step backwards, briefly breaking formation. He explained his plan quietly, but Naruto was still on edge, still focusing hard on the ninja in front of them. It took merely ten seconds for the adult to finish speaking, and when he stepped forward once more, Naruto could tell he was prepared.

"This won't work on two of them." He spoke simply, before concentrating by bringing his hands together.

"Water Release: Hiding Mist Jutsu!"

Naruto's eyes widened as he considered the consequences of the assassin's technique. Sure, it would hide them from two members that were currently chasing them, Kisame, and Zetsu, assuming, of course, that the two didn't have any Sharingan they'd like to pull out of their asses as well, but, from what he understood of the eye, Genjutsu would have no effect at all on the Sharingan's sight.

Both Tobi and Itachi would have no issues at all in finding them.

He voiced said concerns to Sasuke off to his left, and received a confident smile in return. Naruto wasn't sure what to make of that, until, a moment later, his friend saw fit to explain.

"Zabuza really is experienced." Sasuke voiced out. "Sure, the Sharingan can see through this mist, in fact, I can see everyone in the vicinity with complete clarity, but it does something more important than that."

He turned to Naruto, offering the boy his best smirk.

"It cuts off sight lines, meaning visual Genjutsu, the kind Itachi is prophetic at using, are nearly useless!"

That, to be fair, did sound pretty great. Still, Naruto couldn't help but worry about how they were supposed to see, given that the Mist Jutsu didn't just affect enemies.

"Now that we've cut off their sight," Zabuza spoke, slapping the side of his leg with his left hand in what Naruto could only assume was an auditory cue. "We cut off their hearing. Once that's done, run backwards, and don't hesitate for a second. This will be the last time we're able to communicate before this is over." The man stopped for just a moment, seemingly thinking of what to say.

"Don't get killed."

A moment later, an odd sort of substance surrounded Naruto's ears. He felt the need to fight it, but a hand on his shoulder had him calming himself down. He turned to look at Sasuke beside him, who was attempting to steady him, and saw a brownish-orange object shoved into his ear.

"What is-" He spoke but realized a moment later that he could not hear anything. He realized on closer inspection that the odd, cork-looking object keeping them from hearing anything was a small amount of Gaara's sand, which he'd apparently formed earplugs with.

He couldn't be sure why the boy would do such a thing, at least, until a moment later, when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He barely managed to get a good visual on just what it was flying by him, before he recognized the object as a senbon with a bell tied to the end.

The plan finally clicked in his head, and without waiting a second longer, he followed Zabuza's last order, running backwards, and working through the idea in his mind, finding himself grinning widely.

Cutting off their opponents eyes would never have been enough, not when two of them were Sharingan users, and another was from the Mist Village himself. Hell, Naruto wouldn't have been surprised if Zabuza and Kisame had interacted at some point, or maybe even fought, both being members of the Seven Swords.

But adding onto the mist with one of Kin's auditory Genjutsu, even a fairly weak one, would hopefully be enough to stall the Akatsuki for a small while. It didn't have to be a terribly long time, just long enough for them to put some distance between their two groups.

And luckily, it seemed like it was going to work.

At least, that was, until a hand grabbed onto Naruto's ankle from below him.

He hadn't been able to hear anything anyone was saying, nor, truly, could he make out distinct expressions on people's faces. Truthfully, the only thing he could see in the fog was Sasuke's back, as the boy ran ahead of him, unable to hear Naruto cry out for assistance as he looked down at the limb that had him.

It was Tobi's hand gripping him, sticking out of the ground in a way that seemed impossible. Naruto felt a fear building in his chest, and briefly, he panicked that he'd be left behind, unable for his friends to see or hear him as he was held back by the masked assailant. A moment later, however, a single senbon pierced through Tobi's hand, impacting into the ground.

In that very same instant, Naruto's leg passed right through it, and he realized with some annoyance that the man had merely activated his ability to phase through things. Still, at the very least, it seemed like he couldn't grab things and phase through them at the same time, for he had to pull his hand back, and Naruto watched as the limb, and any evidence Tobi had been there, disappeared back into the earth.

He looked up at Haku, who'd nailed the shot that probably saved his life, and gave the teen an honest nod, to which the ice-user replied simply with a smile.

He hesitated to say they were free of the Akatsuki's clutches when they exited out of the other side of the Mist cloud, since not a single one of them let up running, even if they might've been fine.

As they advanced past the mist cloud, and the Akatsuki didn't seem to be following, Gaara pulled his sand from everyone's ears, and, luckily enough, it seemed like the boy was able to remove any residue, for Naruto had been just a bit concerned he was going to have grains of the stuff in his ears for the next couple weeks.

They kept running for quite a while, none of them even remotely comfortable with stopping, but they were far from as fast as they should've been. Namely, they were constantly waiting for Kin and Dosu, the former of whom had been carrying the latter on her back this entire time, and was thusly slowed to a crawl compared to her usual speed.

It also didn't help that Sakura's transformation had finally faded from her body, and she'd nearly collapsed from the pain of both the injury on her arm and the couple of breaks to her ribs, which meant she, too, was being carried along on Anko's back. The Jonin, to be fair, was far better at ignoring the extra weight, but even she was slowed by a little as they tried to keep up their pace.

Naruto watched the front of the formation, trying to keep track of any changes in direction or intent, but mostly, all he saw was Zabuza's frustrated expression, trying to speed the group up, and, every time, slowing back down as either Kin or Anko, mostly Kin, needed the group to halt their pace.

"We're barely putting distance between us." Zabuza complained after another uninspiring spurt of movement. "The Akatsuki could've taken a fucking nap, and they'd still be on us within the next few minutes!"

"Well if you've got any better ideas, then feel free to provide!" Anko snapped back at the man. "We're doing the best that we can!"

The group was on edge, that much was clear. A minute or two passed by in relative silence, though it was exact opposite of a comfortable one. In truth, the only thing Naruto could really understand was that somehow, someone needed to make more distance for them, or they weren't getting away.

It only took another minute for the Akatsuki to catch them.

It was Tobi first, perhaps unsurprisingly, who phased out from the ground, jumping high into the air, and gunning directly for Naruto, bringing his hand out in an intimidating fashion. Naruto called the man on his bluff, however, for Haku's needles had hit the man's body at the perfect time for him to go right through, without being caught.

It didn't stop the man from gripping onto the back of Naruto's jacket, however, after he'd fully phased through Naruto's body. He panicked, letting out a small yelp as he was dragged down to the forest floor, and slammed into the ground below.

His vision swam from the impact, but he didn't allow his body to give up, even if it really, really wanted to. Luckily, his natural bulk had kept the fall from, well, killing him, and the Nine-Tails was healing the damage that had pierced through it.

Still, he was face to face with an Akatsuki, and what was worse, he was probably the strongest one.

"I don't think I'll be taking chances this time." The man said as his Sharingan appeared once more, forming the same pattern from earlier. "Rest easy, Naruto Uzumaki."

The man's eye tensed, and a moment later, the very world around him seemed to spin and ripple.

He wasn't quite sure how to describe the feeling, though, if he'd ever wondered what it felt like to be water spiraling down the drain, he now had a pretty good idea. Black ripples seemed to alter the very world around him, and Naruto had a bad feeling that if the man got to do… whatever it was he was trying to do _fully, _then he wasn't going to like the result.

Luckily, Haku bailed him out, firing off two senbon that both cut into the man's face. The boy's aim was superb, for it delayed Tobi just long enough for Zabuza to arrive, slamming his sword into the dirt, and directly into Tobi's face.

He'd stopped sucking Naruto in (For that was about the only thing he could think of that the man might've been trying for), and Zabuza reached his hand through the ninja, grabbing onto Naruto with his left hand, and, with an inordinate strength, he threw him back into the tree line.

Naruto sailed through the air, finding himself screaming a bit on instinct, until he was caught by Sasuke, who offered him a relieved gasp as they looked back down at the ground below.

Zabuza and Haku were good, but they weren't quite as good as Tobi. The man deflected their blows with twin rods which stuck out from his hands and stabbed them forward, quickly impaling the Mist Assassin in the chest. Zabuza managed to avoid the fatal blow, but wasn't quite able to fully dodge the attack, coming away with no small amount of blood from under his top.

He gave Haku a simple nod, and the two practically flew back into the tree line, their superior speed and coordination on full display.

The problem came in how they were surrounded once more barely a moment later, this time, by opponents a bit more immediately threatening.

Kisame Hoshigaki swung his blade down, cutting into the branch that Zabuza and Haku had landed upon, and nearly sending them falling down to the ground below. Luckily, their instincts seemed good enough to see the attack coming, for they managed to hop off of the doomed limb just before it's destruction.

"Yo, Assassin of the Mist!" Kisame shouted, smirking, and showing off his sharpened teeth. "Sorry I was held up earlier, Sasori finally arrived, so I'm off kid-carrying duty! We can duel to our hearts content now!"

_Sasori? Is that that puppet guy? He got free that quick!? _Naruto found himself panicking, but barely held himself together. _No. We expected that the landslide would only hold them for a bit, it wasn't a permanent solution. I need to stay calm._

Sasuke grabbed Naruto's arm from the side and pulled them both away, and it was his turn to remember that, at the end of the day, every enemy here was after him.

But that didn't mean the Akatuski wouldn't be attacking his friends, either. As Zabuza and Haku ran to join them, the former narrowly dodged underneath a rod that Tobi had fired, letting it sail over his head. He moved to recover, to get back on his feet, but in the time it had taken him to do so, Haku had been placed under fire.

Kisame had him locked in close-range, utilizing his water Jutsu's, along with Samehada, to keep the teen right where he wanted him. It only took him a second to overwhelm Haku, and a second longer to bring his blade to bear, preparing to cut down his opponent.

Naruto let out a yell as he broke free from Sasuke, reaching into his pouch to try and find things he could throw at their assailant. Lamentably, as he reached into the cloth compartment, he found that only a single flash bomb remained, and it would do no good in the half second they had to save Haku.

_No… No! He saved me over and over, and I can't do a thing for him!?_

"Die, Kid!"

"Haku!"

A flash of movement, a bitter sound of flesh and steel colliding, and then silence.

/-/

Pain was the only thing he could comprehend, which was fairly surprising, given his tolerance to the stuff.

He'd tried to block the blow from hitting him and protect the boy at the same time, but, well, he'd had to choose one or the other in the end, and, well…

One of them had been far more important.

He coughed, and idly, he noticed a few droplets of blood land on the branch below him, which supported the weight of the three ninjas standing atop it.

"Za… buza?"

His vision swayed slightly as he looked towards Haku. His brat's face was almost purely white, pale to a degree he'd never seen. He tried to wash away the boy's concern but felt an agonizing ripping of his flesh from behind him, and turned his head instead towards their opponent.

"Heh…" Kisame grinned a bit madly, seeming to find amusement in his actions. "To think you, of all people, would shield another with your body."

The man ripped Samehada out from Zabuza's body, practically flaying his back and left arm apart. The Assassin of the Mist wretched violently, finding himself kneeling as the strength fled his body. He looked up, watching as Kisame moved to bring the blade down once more, but in some fiendish display of speed and strength, Haku was faster.

"GRAAAH!"

The boy's ice shot out from his body, eviscerating the battlefield, and forcing Kisame back. A moment later, without a care in the world for his reserves, Haku activated the ability once more, shooting massive glaciers out of his hands and forming a veritable mountain of ice.

After the obscene showing, the boy fell to his knees. The breath coming out from his mouth was cold, looking almost like mist in the warm day around them. Zabuza himself could feel a small kernel of pride springing up from within him, seeing how far his student had come.

_Student… no…_

How far his… brat had come.

_That's still not it…_

"…za!"

His head swam with different thoughts, different ideas, things he wished he'd done differently. He might've asked himself why if he were more naïve.

"Zabuza!"

His gaze rose, and he met Haku's own. The boy was somehow even paler than he'd been before, looking almost albino, although his eyes were still a rich brown, despite the deep concern welling within them.

He grunted as he tried to push himself to his feet, but his left side simply wasn't working. He hazarded a guess that that was probably quite bad.

He growled out of his mouth, an almost feral thing that poured out of him on instinct. He forced himself to his feet with only his right side, letting his left arm, and most of the rest of him, hang limp and forgotten.

Blood pooled on the branch below them, but he couldn't worry about that. He had a single priority right now, one more important than any other.

"Haku." He managed to shove out of his mouth, despite the fact that his tongue felt like it had a lead weight tied to it. "Get back to the others."

"What!?" The boy sounded broken, and a piece of him couldn't take that, despite knowing what he had to do. "You want me to just leave you!? No, end of story! I'm not abandoning you!"

"Haku we don't have time for this!" He shouted with everything left in his body, forcing the voice that sounded so terribly foreign past his lips. "These people… can't be beat. You have to run and-"

"And what!? Leave you to die!" Haku couldn't accept his words, though it wasn't like he could blame him. "I'm staying. We've gone through hell and back together, I won't let it all end here!"

His brain keyed back into the sounds of combat all around them. They'd fallen into the background as his body tried to conserve energy, but now, he could make out the noise that used to rule over his life.

The noise of the battlefield.

It seemed so terribly at odds with Haku, a beacon of kindness and joy, to have existed in this place for nearly his entire life. It felt… wrong. Entirely so.

_This_… _This isn't the life I wanted for you.  
_

He looked towards Haku's face, and for the first time, he noticed the tears streaming down the boy's cheeks. There was still a primal piece of him, the one that had lived and breathed and relished the fields of war, that couldn't believe the sight before his eyes.

_To think… someone could cry for me, of all people._

"Haku! Zabuza!"

He recognized the voice approaching them as belonging to Naruto Uzumaki, and he felt it was a bit ironic that he of all people was the person coming to their aide, after all this time.

For some reason, he was back on that damned bridge, remembering when Haku had jumped in to help save some Nine-Tailed kid from himself, and how he'd been dragged along with him. At the time, he never could have considered the path they'd end up taking.

Still, even now, he wasn't sure he'd have changed it.

A way to escape the scars of the Mist Village that he'd left in their wake, a way to give the both of them some peace, and a way to give Haku the normal life he deserved. The Leaf Village… it'd been good to them.

But he knew what he had to do.

"Alright, Haku." He muttered under his breath, watching as the boy at his side lit up with relief at his words. "You can stay and help me fight them off. Take point, I'll be right behind you."

Haku smiled, walking just in front of him and drawing a dozen senbon into the gaps in his fingers. He looked completely prepared to face hell alongside him, as he always had, since the moment they'd met.

Which only served to make his next action all the more difficult.

The hit to the back of the boy's neck was calculated, one he'd never had much use for in his time as an assassin, but one that'd been drilled into his head from practically minute one during his training. It was a surefire technique to knock someone out, without risking injuring them.

But he couldn't handle the betrayed look in Haku's eyes as the boy fell into his hold, supported only by his right arm, the strength of which he could feel fading by the moment.

"What are you-" Naruto Uzumaki shouted, seemingly worried for his friend, but it was as if in that moment, as he saw the left side of Zabuza's body, dead and unresponsive, he understood the answer to his own question, and an aghast expression overcame him.

"I'm sorry, Haku." He tore away at the bandages at his mouth, allowing them to fall away onto the boy's chest. With every ounce of emotion in his heart, he tried to give the most sincere smile he could, despite the teeth in his mouth that had been sharpened like knives, or the small scars on his lips from where he'd been attacked and maimed in the past. "But… Just this once, I can't allow you to come where I'm going."

Recognition bloomed in the boy's eyes, and he struggled in Zabuza's grip, attempting to escape from it, to escape from the fate that his eyes were closing, that he was slipping away into unconsciousness.

"Mas… ter… Don't…"

He fought against the emotions warring horrendously in his chest. He wanted to force himself up, to escape from the way he was feeling and run away, but he wouldn't do that to Haku. Not to him, to the only person who'd ever been worth a damned thing to him.

"Haku, you…" He tried to find the words, tried to find what he knew he needed to say before the boy passed out. He searched his very soul, and finally, as he bit down on his bottom lip and drew a few droplets of blood, he allowed himself to say the truth.

"You were… you were the best damn son I could've asked for."

Haku's eyes widened, and tears flowed down his face as his consciousness left him. He tried to ignore the feelings pooling in his stomach as he picked the boy up, and handed him over, as gingerly as he could, to Naruto Uzumaki, who'd been standing nearby the entire time. The boy looked incredibly miserable, likely understanding his intent.

"Take care of him. Tell the others to run as fast as their legs can carry them."

"And you?"

"You'd never make it carrying four weights along on your backs." He counted himself among them, knowing he'd only weigh down the group if they tried to take him with them, especially given he was an adult, weighing probably double Sakura, Haku, or that Dosu kid. "I'll buy you all some time." He smirked. "Don't wait up on me."

"But, I-"

"Get the hell out of here, kid!" He shouted at Naruto, hoping to break the boy out of his little pity party. "If something happens to Haku because you stuck around, then I'll kill the shit out of you, understood!?"

Naruto didn't flinch like he'd expected. Instead, the boy's lips upturned, forming a small, sad smile as he slung Haku around onto his back.

"Thank you for everything, sir."

He found himself laughing, despite everything. As he too rose in his spot, he found the strength in his body somehow returning now that he'd made his peace. He gripped onto the sword beside him and stabbed it harshly into the bark below.

"Likewise."

He was surprised to find he meant it.

Naruto practically flew from tree to tree, flying off into an area he could no longer see. Another form landed on a branch just in front of him, and he wasn't at all shocked to see Kisame Hoshigaki. He didn't doubt Haku's skill, not for a second, but he hadn't really expected someone of Kisame's caliber to be injured by so desperate of an attack.

"Whew, that kid of yours ain't bad! Nearly chopped my block off." The man was having fun, looking antsy to run up and attack him. Perhaps that was due to the fact that they were both of the seven, but for Zabuza himself, the man before him was of no significance. He had only one mission.

Buy them as much time as he could.

"Still, to think Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Mist Village, would lay down his life to save others…" To Kisame, this seemed like an unacceptable outcome. "I always pictured you as cold and robotic, killing any who stood in your way. The 'Demon to the bitter end' type, ya' get me?"

_Funny. _Zabuza cracked a smile. _I always thought pictured the same thing._

"Perhaps that damned village made me soft." He answered instead. "Who knows?"

"Eh, guess it doesn't really matter either way." Kisame lifted his sword, effortlessly holding it up with one hand. "I just need to kill you."

The time for words had ended. He knew that no matter what he tried to say, even if he wanted to stall for time, the man across from him would simply charge in anyways, sword at the ready.

In the next instance of time, a wooden tail pierced through the space he'd been occupying, but he'd already been jumping backwards. Being this close to the edge had his instincts heightened to a ridiculous degree. On the floor beneath where he landed, a hand rose up from out of the wood. He was quicker, though, and through some strength for which he had no explanation, he managed to kick the limb, sending it flying back.

If the crack he heard while doing so was any indication, he had a feeling he'd broken the owner's wrist.

He finally stopped moving as three new figures arrived, one of them emerging from out of the wood below. He recognized all but one by appearance, and even the latter he knew the name of, thanks to the invasion team's reports from back during Danzo's assassination.

Tobi, Sasori, and Zetsu.

Against even one of them, he would've had a rough fight on his hands.

_Heh. All of them at once… I suppose this'll be a decent enough challenge._

"My name is Zabuza Momochi." He spoke with a fervor that was absent in his body, for try as he might, he still couldn't get his left side to respond.

It didn't really matter; he wouldn't need it.

"I am a ninja… of the Village Hidden in the Leaves."

It was funny the odd sort of pride that statement brought about in him. Without Haku around, he was sure he wouldn't have given half a shit about the place. But seeing the way the boy's eyes filled with wonder, with excitement, with joy at the place they'd been taken in by…

Perhaps it had gotten to him more than he'd thought.

His thoughts drifted once more to Haku, to his son, the boy he'd picked up off of the streets of the Mist when neither of them had had anything. He liked to think they'd done pretty well, all things considered, with that they'd been given. Still, there was a small hope in his breast, a tiny, lingering will.

_I hope you'll be better than I ever was, Haku. _

"And as I live and breathe…"

_Haku… Live._ He prayed silently to no god in particular. _Live and become the man I know you'll be._

"Not a single one of you… is getting past me!"

**End Chapter 55**

* * *

**See you all next week!**


	56. Chapter 56

**Heeeello hello!**

**As always, ****Without further ado...**

* * *

**Chapter 56: Quiet Exchange of Those Thought Lost**

* * *

Naruto zipped through the tree line, doing his best to keep his mind off of what'd just happened. It was difficult, namely because he was carrying a reminder of it, of his failure, along on his back, in the form of the unconscious Haku, who still had tear tracks all down his face.

The group looked… horrible.

The Sand trio were easily the best off, but that was also likely because they'd arrived near the end of their little rescue mission. Gaara was unscathed, but that was largely thanks to his armor and defensive sand, both of which were made to protect him.

Kankuro and Temari looked largely OK, but even they seemed to be having issues. The former's puppets had both been destroyed, and the latter's fan had rips in multiple places. Neither were injured, but when it came to future combat encounters, both had effectively been rendered useless.

Kiba seemed alright. Naruto had sort of forgotten the boy was there if he were being honest. Still, he'd turned into a large, twin-headed wolf, which had, at the very least, been pretty alright at holding off Sasori with help from the Sand trio. Still, with the way Akamaru lounged atop Kiba's head, having passed out, he had a feeling they wouldn't be doing that again anytime soon.

The sound three were beaten and bruised, but they were alive. Dosu had, at some point during the battle, fainted from his wounds, and Naruto could only pray they'd get away from the Akatsuki soon enough that they could heal the boy, before those injuries…

He shook his head, finding grief welling up within him again.

Anko, now the effective leader of the team, lead the charge, carrying a sleeping Sakura along on her back. Both women seemed to be in middling condition at best, and Naruto had a feeling his friend wasn't waking up anytime soon, and that meant her teacher had a heavy weight if they got caught in combat again.

Lastly, he looked to Sasuke, who still seemed shocked about what he'd discovered earlier. He didn't quite know all there was to know about what Itachi had said to Sasuke, regarding the eyes of their clan, but apparently, whatever it was, it had directly gone against what they'd seen today. He wanted to reach out and comfort the boy… but his heart just wasn't in it.

He put his head down and soldiered on, ignoring the screaming in his legs as they yelled about having to carry double their normal load. He wouldn't allow them to complain, not when Zabuza had entrusted something so important to him…

Something more important to him than his own life.

He couldn't allow himself to relax either, not for a single moment. Every sound he heard had him jumping, sending his head swiveling and checking every corner, every nook and cranny of the forest surrounding them.

If the Akatsuki caught up to them… they needed to be ready.

They traveled for quite a way's before he felt a small stirring on his right shoulder, and turned to see Haku's eyes flutter open. He seemed disorientated, which was good, since it bought him some time to think of what to say to him, to somehow try and diffuse the situation he knew he had no chance of avoiding.

"Haku…" His voice came out as shrill and unconfident, nothing like how he'd wanted it to sound. "Uhm… so, listen-"

A sharp whistling noise cut into his voice, and before he could even allow himself to fret or worry, his body was already evading.

The black rod impaled the trunked he'd been about to land on, cutting quite far into the wood, in a strike that would've easily been fatal to the boy riding along on his back. He was about to turn in midair, and fire off a kunai at the man behind them, before he remembered that he'd already exhausted his supply earlier. Instead, he bit down on his lip, and alerted the others.

"We've got company!"

The problem, really, was that the head of the group had already stopped moving. Naruto looked ahead as he continued to run and jump his way forward, but what he saw shook him deeply.

Tobi stood at the front of their formation. His left arm hung limply at his side, but aside from that, he looked totally fine, more than prepared to get right back to what they'd been doing.

Naruto felt a massive swamp of fear in his chest, but tried to zone it out, ignore it. It wasn't helping him right now. He knew the people who'd just showed up, brandishing weapons and preparing to eradicate them, were dangerous without his damn soul having to chime in to tell him.

Though, as he tried to do so, Haku seemed to come to his senses.

"Na… ruto?" The boy spoke softly. "Where's…"

His voice cut out as he looked up and saw exactly what Naruto himself was seeing. Above them, sitting on a branch with his legs dangling casually below, was Kisame Hoshigaki. In his right hand, he casually wielded his living blade, Samehada, with the greatest of ease, slinging the weapon onto his shoulder and shooting them a wide grin.

In his other hand, he wielded Kubikiribōchō, the great sword of Zabuza.

"No…" Haku whispered quietly, barely loud enough for Naruto, whose ear was only a few inches from the boy's mouth, to hear. "No, no, no, no, no, n-"

"I gotta' admit, that guy wasn't half bad, all things considered." Kisame called out to the both of them, and Sasuke, too, as the boy walked up next to Naruto and Haku, looking none too happy to be there. "I mean, he ended up holding the five of us off for quite a while."

_Five? _Naruto counted the members they'd been dealing with in his head, one by one. _Kisame, Itachi, Zetsu, Sasori…_

_No…_

Another figure emerged from the tree line just beyond them. His face was, as always, completely void of emotion. He looked blankly ahead of him, his hair a bright orange, and his eyes a lifeless purple.

All in all, Pain looked… disinterested.

"Oh, right!" Kisame suddenly shouted out, before swinging Kubikiribōchō back off of his shoulder, and thrusting the sword out. "He was your master, right kid? Or was it like… dad or something? Eh, doesn't really matter."

He threw the sword in a lazy arc, and Naruto watched as it impacted into the wood just a few feet beyond them.

"Here ya' go, figured you'd probably want to keep that, and, well, it's pretty useless, all things considered. All it does is heal itself when it breaks, and it's not like someone like **me's** ever breaking a sword. I have no need for it, but you can keep it, y'know, for sentimental value and whatnot."

There was a moment of complete and utter silence, where not even the Akatsuki moved a muscle. Haku looked up at the man above them, sneering down at the three of them, him in particular, and Naruto could see the exact moment where a part of him simply… snapped.

The boy gripped onto Naruto's pressure point, forcing him onto the ground with a small yelp of pain. He stepped off of him without a word and took a zombie-like step forward as his eyes bugged out, an almost manic fury taking over his face.

"I'll… kill you…" Haku muttered under his breath, walking over to his father's sword and placing a hand on it's handle. "I'll kill… you… I'll kill you…"

He repeated the words like a mantra, and Naruto heard the bones in the boy's hand crack as he flexed his appendage. In the next moment, he gripped onto the sword, and, with one fell swoop, and an impossible strength, drew Kubikiribōchō from out of the bark, holding it aloft, and pointing it directly at Kisame with death in his eyes.

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

In stark contrast to the ice-wielders tone, Kisame smirked with apparent glee.

"Now that's more like it."

Naruto pushed himself back up as another figure zoomed past him, barely managing to catch themselves before they flew off the edge of the small wooden platform they were stood upon. Anko had blocked whatever blow sent her here, but the evidence that it was a harsh one was written all over the back of her arms. Several large bruises adorned them, and it seemed like she'd been tanking for quite a while.

Sakura was still asleep on her back, which meant the woman couldn't afford to give an inch.

She stood just behind Haku, who was turned the other way, looking up at Kisame with such a grudge that Naruto could feel the boy's killing intent from where he was sitting, even though it wasn't directed at him.

"I am so… damned tired of this shit…"

Naruto looked over and saw that it was Anko who'd spoken. She didn't look terribly well as she dropped her arms, either, letting them fall to her sides and grinding her teeth together.

"You people just won't give up, will you… fine…" A black mark appeared on the back of the girl's neck, emerging from it in a flaming pattern that looked almost identical to that of the girl riding on her back. "I'll get rid of you myself!"

Anko's curse mark was out in full force, having finally broken itself free of the shell the woman had placed around it. Naruto didn't really have to think for that long to know that was quite a bad thing. He tried to decide who he needed to back up, tried to find out who he'd need to help out, before an explosion rocked the battlefield, sending him flying backwards. Luckily, he barely maintained enough control over himself to recover midair, but it didn't stop him from seeing just who the new arrival was and cursing under his breath.

"Yo! Sorry I'm late, hn!" Deidara called out from an owl far above them, already drawing more clay into his hand-mouths to form into bombs. "Shall we finish these guys off?"

"Yes," Pain called back apathetically. "But remember, you are not to kill the One or Nine-Tails."

Naruto was surprised to find that he actually wasn't panicking. If he had to guess, even his subconscious had figured out that panicking didn't serve any purpose here. Not now, at least, when the enemy had numbers equaling to more than half of theirs, and each were easily capable of killing every single one of them by themselves.

The Sand and Sound trios were pushed back as well, landing around their area and immediately forming a circle. It was smaller than it'd been just an hour or two ago, what with the loss of three of its members. One had fallen, but two stood outside of it, rage overtaking them. They charged at the Akatsuki, seemingly without a care in the world for their lives.

_Ah. I see. _Naruto realized as their group frayed at the edges, as everything fell apart, and as the Akatsuki encircled them, preparing to destroy them once and for all. _We're going to die._

"Summoning Jutsu!"

A massive explosion of white smoke covered the battlefield, and the sounds of trees being crushed behind them had Naruto turning his head, looking at whatever could've arrived, at what would, with their luck, certainly be another Akatsuki member coming to back up his allies.

Instead, however, the Akatsuki that were boxing them in from behind were blasted back, forced away by a numerous count of Jutsu. He wasn't able to identify even half of them, but he could tell they were high level.

"Everyone!" A familiar voice cried out from beyond the smokescreen, and Naruto felt tears of relief filling his eyes as he turned towards it, practically gasping.

"Sorry we're late!"

The smoke cleared, and from out of it, a hundred or more Leaf Shinobi stepped. Leading them was Tsunade herself, her arms crossed underneath her breasts, and a glare in her eyes that declared she meant business. Beside her was Shizune, donning full combat garb for the first time Naruto had seen.

Just off to her left was Kakashi, his ninja dogs out and active, jumping towards them and offering their support to their group. Behind him were several other ninja Naruto recognized. Shikaku, Inoichi, and Choza to start, Might Guy, and his squad of Genin, and a few others he knew less well, Ibiki Morino, the proctor for the first exam, a full squadron of Anbu, along with what he could only assume were Root ninja.

Behind them all, standing atop a massive toad and posing dramatically, was Jiraiya himself.

Tsunade stepped forward, an incredible tension brought about by her presence alone. Every step seemed to only increase that feeling. As she walked by Naruto, however, she ruffled his hair, and just a bit of the fear in his body, the fear he hadn't even recognized the presence of, dissipated from the contact. As Tsunade finally stopped, just in front of their group, the tension reached a fever pitch.

She stared down the Akatsuki for several moments, and even though they looked far from cowed, they still didn't make a move against her.

"Members of the Akatsuki." She spoke simply, her voice a beacon of strength. "If you wish to survive the day, you will retreat from this point at once."

Kisame smirked, looking towards Pain himself and raising his eyebrows, as if asking 'can you believe this woman?'. Pain, however, didn't seem to return the feeling, though Naruto wasn't exactly sure if his face was capable of showing emotion. He stepped forward, taking the Hokage of the leaf quite seriously.

"And what makes you think you have the strength to be threatening us?" He asked calmly, without any doubt. "Do you truly believe the ninjas present here are enough to contest us in power?"

"Yes." Tsunade spoke without fear. "If you'd like to test that, then by all means, I've been looking for an excuse to wipe you out."

Pain stood still for a moment, and then, after deliberating, he let out a small sound of amusement, before nodding. Instead of retreating, however, the man turned his head up, and spoke something Naruto had never expected to hear.

"Jiraiya Sensei, it's been a while."

_Sensei!?_

"Yahiko." Naruto's own teacher called out. "I had… hoped I was wrong."

Pain said nothing, merely blankly staring ahead at the man before him.

"What of Konan, and… and Nagato? I see… that you have his eyes."

Naruto could fully admit he had no idea what was going on right now, but it appeared, at least, that his was a rather universal experience, save for Tsunade, who was staring a hole into the ground beneath her, an expression of guilt set upon her face. At some point as the two spoke, Kakashi had made his way over to them, and placed his hands on both Naruto's and Sasuke's shoulders. He appreciated the show of support, he definitely needed it.

"Konan is still with me. With the Akatsuki." Pain, or perhaps Yahiko was his real name, spoke. "Nagato is dead. Has been for many years."

Jiraiya looked gutted, but unsurprised. A quiet acceptance as he silently mourned whoever Nagato had been.

"I'm sorry." Jiraiya finished simply, before hopping off of his toads head. He landed on the wooden outcropping that Naruto's group was stood upon, walking forward until he was shoulder to shoulder with Tsunade. "I'm sorry I left you all… but I won't hesitate to stand against you now."

Pain merely nodded.

"I would expect nothing less. Though, no matter what you'd have said, it wouldn't have mattered, we accomplished our goal." He turned back around, back towards the sound village, and began to walk. "Orochimaru is dead."

Both Tsunade and Jiraiya's eyes widened, and the two seemed to want to step forward, to question further, and they might've done just that…

If someone else already hadn't.

The moment Pain had turned his body, a form had charged at him, bringing his sword to bare, and swung down. The blade was blocked by Kisame's own, and two of the seven swords of the Mist clashed for yet another time that day.

"You think you get to run!?" Haku screamed, somehow forcing the sword down, forcing Kisame back. "I'll kill you, all of you, you'll never-"

A smoke bomb was thrown directly at the feet of the two clashing warriors, and a figure dashed into them. He gripped onto Haku's body, and pulled him out, kicking and screaming.

"LET GO OF ME!" Haku cried, rage overcoming any sense of reason. "I have to… have to-"

"You _have _to calm down!" Inoichi shouted, drowning out the boy's complaints. "You think you can fight them all on your own!? You think it's worth throwing your life away for nothing!?"

Haku ground his teeth together as tears flowed down his face, and he let out a screaming yell as he fell to the bark below, pounding his fists into it over and over.

"We shall have the Jinchuuriki eventually. It matters not when we retrieve it." Pain gave them his final parting words. "Know this, members of the Leaf Village, you will come to know pain in time."

"Hey, Zabuza's brat, you're not half bad!" Kisame guffawed as the rest of the group retreated. "If you think you're up for it, I'm always ready to clash swords with someone strong. Though, well, right now, you're pretty far from that."

Haku was still hunched over on the ground, his fists still in contact with the earth, but that didn't stop him from balling them up, squeezing so hard his knuckles went white.

"Next time…" The boy uttered under his breath, looking up and meeting the shark's gaze as he spat his next words out. "Next time you won't be laughing… I swear that."

Kisame looked practically thrilled.

"I'll hold you to that."

And then he was gone.

/-/

The silence in the clearing was almost overbearing. Medical ninja surrounded the wounded parties, namely Dosu and Sakura, though, pointedly, everyone in their group had some piece or part of them that was hurting.

Anko sat next to Sakura, her curse mark still flaring up, and from the looks of things, still burning her severely. A sealing ninja came by after a few minutes and began working on her, and after some work, the woman managed to seal the raging flames back up again.

The mark, however, was still perfectly visible on Anko's skin, looking almost like it was hissing with energy. It was nowhere near the silent, sleeping beast it had been before.

For Sasuke himself, he could freely admit that this wasn't how he'd thought the day would be ending at all.

He let himself fall backwards, laying down on the hard bark and trying to ignore the rampant exhaustion he was currently experiencing. After all, he hadn't really lost anyone that day. He liked Zabuza well enough, but they didn't really have a connection. Haku though…

It wasn't fair to the grieving boy for him to be down about a bit of pain, and so he held his nerve.

"You alright, Sasuke?"

He opened his eyes, inclining his head slightly to the left, and saw Kakashi looking down on him. He didn't look pleased, well, none of them did, with Zabuza having been killed, but at the very least, it seemed like he was going to try and cheer him up.

He appreciated that; he just didn't want it.

"I'm fine." He answered simply, sitting up and briefly scanning for Naruto.

He found the boy sitting next to Haku, murmuring quietly with the orphaned teen as they discussed something or another. It looked to be a rather one-sided conversation, but he could tell his best friend was trying to keep Haku distracted, even if his method could've used some work.

_…king at him._

He blinked, feeling like he'd just barely missed stumbling onto something. Back during their fight, there'd been something on his mind…

The Mangekyou Sharingan. The existence of four.

His eyes widened. Tobi having a Mangekyou Sharingan confirmed it. There were, in fact, three living Mangekyou Sharingan users, and that was at least. Itachi had stated simply that there were only two. His brother himself was a given, seeing as how the man had shown it to him on multiple occasions, and Kakashi had used his own back in the Land of Waves. Still, now that he knew Tobi also had one…

The pattern hadn't been the same as the one that'd supposedly belonged to Shishui. That had been a four-pointed windmill, but Tobi's had been different. It had been–

_He was looking at him._

A thought crossed his mind, one even he wasn't sure the validity of. It'd been so long, so many months since he'd seen it, and even when he had, it had been for a fraction of a second. Could he truly trust a memory like that?

"Kakashi!"

"Yeah?"

Team 7's mentor was confused, and it made sense as to why. The vigor in his tone probably surprised the man, having come out of nowhere from what had been, no more than a few seconds before, a depressed atmosphere.

"I need to see your Mangekyou!"

The copycat's eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to protest.

"Please! It's important!"

He closed it with a sigh.

"Alright, but if I end up in the hospital again because of this-"

"You won't. I only need it for a second."

"Alright, alright." Kakashi groaned. "It's going to be a while."

He nodded.

The waiting was agonizing, all things considered. It was at least three minutes, and during which, he scanned the tree line around him.

Numerous different ninjas were helping each other out, including the Root ninjas, who he'd sort of assumed had been called in for the manpower alone. They didn't seem… overly friendly, but they were assisting in providing relief, so he supposed that was a start, at least.

Naruto and Haku's conversation seemed to have hit a standstill, but luckily, Inoichi had approached, and sat down on the boy's opposite side. Now, being attacked from two angles, it seemed he was at least talking back when they spoke, which was about as good as they could hope for.

Sasuke silently wished they'd leave him alone, let him grieve in peace, like he had, but looking back, he wasn't sure if that was a particularly healthy thing to do, given that he'd chosen to isolate himself for nearly three months afterwards. Maybe the boy would come to be thankful he'd had friends to count on immediately.

_Who knows…?_

"Alright, I'm ready."

Kakashi's words had him refocusing on the task at hand. He looked up at the man's face and studied the scarecrow's left eye closely. After only a moment, his suspicions were confirmed to be truth, and he took a single step back in shock.

Tobi's Mangekyou Sharingan… It was the exact same.

And the entire time, from the moment they'd arrived, to Pain and Tsunade's standoff, Jiraiya and Pain's conversation, and Haku's desperate attack…

Tobi had been staring directly at Kakashi.

He communicated all of this to his teacher, and watched as the man's face grew… Sasuke had a hard time deciding just what the emotion on the man's face could've been described as.

It was pale, deathly so, but it wasn't as if his face looked aghast or terrified. If anything, he would've said the man looked aggrieved. But it also wasn't quite that extreme, either. His teacher was, if anything, a master at keeping his emotions in check. Hell, he could only assume that reason the man wore a mask was to keep his feelings hidden.

Still, for the man to still crack ever so slightly, with his training, with his mastery over being a ninja…

He remembered back to a conversation he'd had with Kakashi… what felt like ages ago at that point. It'd been during his training for the Chuunin exams, when he'd grown too curious about the man possessing a Sharingan. He'd asked how Kakashi had gotten his left eye to begin with, and the man had told him a story, back from the Third Shinobi World War…

The story of a boy named Obito Uchiha.

"Uhm, Kakashi?" Sasuke felt a bit awkward prying, like he was delving into something far too personal. "Do you… know anything about that guy, or…?"

It was a long while before Kakashi responded to him, and even when he did, it was in a nearly silent voice, so filled with emotion that it was, paradoxically, devoid of it.

"No." The scarecrow lied. "Nothing at all."

/-/

Nagato could admit to himself, now that they'd disengaged from the Leaf, and subsequently, the Jinchuuriki they'd been attempting to capture, that he was more than a little exhausted. Being stuck in a metal frame that held his body together was about the only thing preventing him from falling over and dying while controlling his paths.

Sasori had gone on ahead, looking to alter with the servant who's mind he held in the palm of his hand. Zetsu had returned to base, and Tobi had, as he occasionally tended to, disappeared. He'd show up within a few days, though, perhaps this particular time had something to do with the Leaf contingent they'd run into earlier.

Still, the day wasn't over. They'd accomplished their mission, assuredly, but unfortunately, a few hours earlier, he'd lost one of his paths.

It wasn't in a way that he could easily deal with, either. Normally, when one was destroyed, he'd simply revive them with Naraka's power. Now, though it wasn't death, but a massive pile of stone and earth that held down his Human Path.

It'd belonged to the body of a Takigakure Shinobi, but much like the rest of his paths, he had no real attachment to it. If anything, the amount of work it was going to take to dig it out was more than worth replacing it over.

The Deva paths head turned from side to side, silently scanning the tree line for a particular figure. His eyes caught sight of it after perhaps ten minutes of searching, and he hopped up to the particular tree it was located upon.

It was the body of Zabuza Momochi, lying still atop a branch, a calmness in his expression that left Nagato feeling… contemplative.

He did not feel guilt for having helped kill the man before him. Nor, really, did he have any lingering regrets being brought to the surface by his death either. Still, there was a tiny part of him, an insignificant, but obnoxious voice that wanted to point out that Zabuza Momochi had died to protect the one he loved.

And if that were the case, then what differentiated him from someone like Nagato's own mother and father, or Yahiko himself?

As he was pondering this and that, Kisame landed beside him, looking utterly unaffected by the day's events.

"Yo, boss." He called out to him, walking over, and looking down at the corpse before them. "You investigating something, or…?"

"You could say that." He responded automatically, not paying too much attention to the man. "Take this one with us, I'm going to use it."

"Oh?" Kisame smirked. "Does this mean we're not digging around in the ground all day looking for that other one?"

"Yes."

The body of Zabuza Momochi slung around his shoulder, Kisame turned back around and dashed after Deidara's owl, the two making their way back towards the organization's closest den. Still, he himself would need to return to the Rain Village at a later date if he were going to operate on the body they'd just obtained.

To transform him into a manifestation of Pain.

/-/

By the time Kabuto awoke, dusk had fallen across the bleak remnants of the Sound Village.

He sat up from where he'd been lying still, and immediately felt a sharp pain in the middle of his head. It didn't take him very long to recognize the pain, given that Orochimaru himself had once removed it.

It was Sasori's seal of control.

He bit down on his lip, but knew there was nothing to be done, at least, not alone. Right now, he needed to locate Lord Orochimaru. Despite their more recent quiet disagreements with one another, the man would remove the seal on his brain, that much he knew. He didn't want his second in command under the control of the Akatsuki anymore than Kabuto did himself.

Still, as he began walking through the broken-down rubble of the Sound Village, he couldn't help a morbid curiosity that filled his heart. He hadn't much cared for the place, but seeing the town he'd once thought of as, at the very least, a place of residence, completely destroyed was…

A small noise called out from a collection of plaster and wood, what had likely once been an apartment of some kind, and he felt a small, almost unidentifiable urge to investigate.

Kabuto kneeled down beside the broken down remains and placed his ear as close as he could get it to the rubble. He heard a tiny, indistinct voice, and knew for a fact that someone was buried beneath it.

_"-buto, is that name alright?"_

He wasn't really sure why, but over the course of the next hour, he gradually dug the person out of their prison. It was hard work, especially since he had no Jutsu that could realistically help with digging, other than his chakra scalpels, which, while useful for cutting into plaster, weren't quite sharp enough to do anything about the occasional beam of iron or steel he found in the wreckage.

It took another thirty minutes, but he saw the person below him for the first time. It'd actually turned out to be two people, a mother and son. They looking terrified, yet hopeful now that they'd been exposed to the light.

Perhaps he should've encouraged them, but he simply couldn't find the energy.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he removed the last of the barricades, and pulled the two out of the pit. They sat still on the ground around him for quite a while, just… staring. Staring at the town that had, for better or for worse, once been their home.

Now, it was a crater.

"What… what do we do?" The woman asked him. "How will we survive!?"

He had no answer for the woman, nor, truly, did he have an answer for the voice inside his own head, who'd been asking himself the same question for the entirety of his time awake.

A wooden object hurtled towards the three of them at a speed Kabuto was only barely able to react to. It snaked around him, instead gunning for the two civilians behind.

He knew the weapon, knew it's creator and it's user. He knew he should allow Sasori to simply gut the two civilians behind them, two civilians who had, through no fault of their own, possibly seen any of the Akatsuki. If there was a chance, no matter how slim, of that having been the case…

Then according to the Akatsuki, they needed to die. Hell, Orochimaru would've done the same thing.

He watched as the mother stepped in front of the tail, shielding her son from it, and Kabuto knew without thinking that the blade on the tip would simply impale them both, running her straight through.

He shouldn't have cared.

_"What's your name, little one?"_

_"I…"_

His head practically split in two, and a scream bubbled up into his mouth that he had to force himself to keep inside.

_"He doesn't remember anything, but… he had this helmet with him! A Kabuto, right?"_

_"Hmm… What about that name, sweetie?"_

_"Ka… buto?"_

He shoved the tail into the dirt with his foot, unable to stop its forward momentum, but forcing it underneath both of the mother and child, between their legs.

"Run." He spoke shortly. "Don't turn back. Not for anything."

They hesitated for just a moment, and the tail beneath them reactivated, aiming upwards and preparing to gouge into them from below.

This time, he drew his chakra scalpels into his hands, and cut along the tails' midsection. The wood severed at that point, and a good portion of the end of the tail, along with the tip of the stinger at the end, flew off as its momentum continued to carry it.

"RUN!" He repeated himself, and this time, the mother and son seemed to understand it, for they turned and ran towards the edge of the village. They didn't stop, and the last he saw of them before they disappeared behind a building was a small, grateful smile on the mother's face.

He tried not to let it affect him, but really, a small section of his heart pined to see it once more, to…

To see his own mother once more.

He turned back towards the figure approaching him, and tried not to flinch as a sharp pain, like a knife, ran up his spine, before ending inside of his skull.

"You disobeyed my orders, Kabuto." The man spoke his name, and suddenly, a hazy film seemed to descend over his vision.

He wanted to apologize to Sasori. Definitely. He wanted to hunt down those two he'd allowed to escape, to do right by the man who'd raised him. Yes. Certainly, Sasori was worth–

He screamed as he broke free of the man's control, taking a solitary step back and preparing his stance once more, redrawing his chakra scalpels into his hands and readying himself for battle.

"Oh?" Sasori sounded… not quite disappointed, but an odd mix of that and curiosity, as if he hadn't hoped for this outcome, but was terribly intrigued either way. "The mark on you is defective. So… Orochimaru tampering with and removing it before has allowed you to resist this new one as well?"

He said nothing, not wanting to give an agent of the Akatsuki any more information than was required.

"Then, I suppose you're useless. What a shame."

The man might not have had his tail, but the tail wasn't what made him an S-ranked ninja, either. His mouth opened, and a few thousand senbon seemed to rain from out of it, heading straight for him.

Kabuto dodged around them, bobbing, and weaving his way through the man's guard. He wasn't quite sure what he was doing, taking on a member of the Akatsuki. He'd at first hoped to pretend like his seal was still in effect, pretend like he was under Sasori's influence, but…

_Mother… Can you tell me what I'm supposed to do?_

He knew he couldn't defeat Sasori, at the very least, not on his own. With Orochimaru beside him, or perhaps even someone of Kimimaro's level, they might've stood at least a chance. He didn't doubt that they'd probably die after the fight, though, even if they won. Sasori had so many different gadgets, so many different abilities, all of which were poisoned, or booby-trapped, or spat fire, or exploded, that a single slip-up was destined to kill you.

And you couldn't fight an S-ranked opponent for long without slipping up once or twice.

The battle, if one could really call it that, didn't drag on much longer. Sasori on his own was the far better fighter, and it didn't take very long for the man to nail him with a single senbon. After that, his system was flooded with a poison that gradually took the strength from his muscles, and in a fight…

Such a fate was a death sentence.

He was forced to the floor, looking up into the eyes of Sasori, or, into the beady, fake whites of his puppets eyes, with a defiant one in his own. He wouldn't beg or plead, not to the man before him, who'd care not for such things.

_Mom… I'm sorry, it seems I'll be departing this world far sooner than I'd meant to. _He mused to himself. _Are you…  
_

The puppet raised his hand, a weapon within that would snuff out Kabuto's life.

_Proud of…_

But before Sasori could bring it down, a voice called out.

"Wait."

The both of them turned, and Kabuto saw a face he recognized from description alone. His hair was orange, some spiked up, and some falling into his face. His eyes were purple and ringed. Orochimaru had told him of the identity of the Akatsuki's leader long ago, when he'd first broken the seal over his mind placed there by Sasori.

_This must be Pain._

"What for?" Sasori asked casually, not putting away his weapon, but merely halting its descent. "I see no reason to keep him around."

"We've had need of a medical ninja for quite a while now." Pain spoke, walking over to Kabuto and looking him directly in the eye. "You'd offer your services, wouldn't you?"

He'd have done just about anything to live a second longer, nodding without any hesitation.

"Whatever for? Hidan?" The puppet off to his left continued to try and justify killing him. "Kakazu stitches him back up, and even when it gets too extreme, your Naraka is enough to-"

"I tire of having to do everything." The man finalized without another word. "That is all. We will return to base."

Sasori clicked his tongue, but otherwise stayed silent. After a few seconds, however, he seemingly remembered something.

"And what of the two rats this one let go?"

Kabuto felt a small twinge of despair at the thought of the two being hunted down. He had no real connection to them, but…

A mother and son…

"Leave them. They are of no consequence, having only seen the you in your Hiruko form. They gain nothing from selling information, either, other than placing themselves in danger."

Sasori groaned, but shuffled away, pulling his cloak back over the Hiruko puppet's armor and masking it's appearance.

"Fine. But he's not my responsibility anymore, I've no control over him."

"It's not as if he'll disobey orders." Pain looked right down at him, and maybe it was the deadened eyes, or the absolute indifference in the man's face, but something about it scared Kabuto to his core. "Will you?"

"No." His voice came out clipped, sounding cowed, not exactly an impression he wanted to give off. "Sir. I will perform to the utmost of my abilities."

Pain regarded him coldly for another few moments, and whatever mental conversation the man was having with himself, Kabuto had no way of finding out.

"Give him the antidote."

Sasori groaned, but walked over to him, pulling out a small vial and offering it up. Kabuto downed the liquid in but a second, coughing as it burned away at his throat. Even still, he could feel himself grow better as it coursed through his system, his muscles growing looser, and his breaths coming easier.

"Follow us. Stray, and you will be killed."

With no other words, the man turned and dashed towards the forest just beyond the Sound Village, Sasori right behind him. He managed to force himself to his feet and run to catch up to them. It wasn't terribly far, but even so, Kabuto found himself growing tired as he followed behind Pain.

He'd fought Itachi and Kisame earlier, well, mostly Kisame, and the man had managed to strip almost all of the chakra from his body with that massive, living blade of his. He'd no idea how to counter something like that, other than to simply not let it hit him, and out-duel the man as best he could.

He'd failed on both counts.

He brought himself back to the present, looking up at Pain and finding his own eyes narrowing. There'd been something about Pain earlier that had struck him as odd.

Orochimaru had told him that the man had gone around massacring anyone remotely connected to Hanzo of the Salamander, the old leader of the Rain Village. From those members of his close family, all the way down to people who'd simply worked for him, his cooks, tailors, and gardeners.

So why would a man that paranoid, that addicted to staying in power, allow the survival of a couple of, as Sasori had put it, rats?

_There had to be something there. _Kabuto realized calmly, letting his more discerning side take over for him as he fell back on old practices, analyzing and preparing, in the case that he'd need Pain's weaknesses. _Was it a familial thing? Did he know them? No. Can't have been, too coincidental…_

He ran through multiple scenario's in his head, but the one that he finally arrived at sent an odd twinge of Déjà vu down his spine.

_Was it the relationship of the two? _He pondered. _A mother and son, caught in a destroyed village, one desecrated by ninja far more powerful, far more advanced than they could ever hope to defeat… It matches Orochimaru's reports of what happened in the Rain Village…_

His eyes narrowed once more, and a theory bloomed in the back of his head as they flew through the trees.

_I wonder, Pain… a__re the two of us__… the same in that regard?_

_Do we both carry a soft spot we wish we could be rid of?_

/-/

Kakashi stood silently in a clearing just off of the Third Training Ground. He'd been coming almost every day for the past… years. It'd become something of a daily ritual, something that let him carry on doing what he was doing, to help move on from his past.

Just this once, however, it seemed like his past had caught up.

"Hey, Obito." He spoke quietly, barely audible to even himself. "I went and saw Rin earlier. I wasn't sure… nevermind. I… I ran into someone interesting today. One of my students, Sasuke… do you remember me telling you about them?"

There was no answer, but he assumed it would be 'yes.', since he couldn't help but think Obito would be the type to listen intently, to remember things his friends had told him, to value them and…

And would definitely not be the type to join an international terrorist group hellbent on controlling… or destroying the continent.

He shook his head, dismissing the, frankly, asinine thought.

"Anyways… Sasuke said he saw my Mangekyou Sharingan… well, yours, in the man's right eye. I don't… I don't know what to say, because I don't doubt that he must've seen it, he has a Sharingan himself, after all, but… but there's a part of me that just can't accept that."

He sounded so horribly unsure, so childish, and afraid. He lightly smacked himself on both cheeks, trying to break himself out of his funk.

"I'm angry, I have to admit it." He changed his tone on a dime, trying to recover. "To think someone would've taken your other one, honestly, you must be quite annoyed, having to see out of that bastards mask, when you're trying to be my eye, huh?"

The trees around him shifted in the wind, and from the crinkling of the leaves, he liked to think he heard laughter.

It was all in his head, he knew that, but it made it… not effortless, but… easier.

"I suppose another name is going to join you here in a few days, Obito." Kakashi felt just a bit of melancholy about that, having never really gotten the chance to know Zabuza, but still respecting the man enough. "He's a bit of a hardass, but underneath his veneer, he's a big softie, so I think you'll probably get along."

There was silence in the clearing for a few minutes, as he allowed the wind to tousle his hair, the same as it did with the leaves all around him, and the grass beneath. A flower that hung off of the monument, placed by some nameless mourner, flapped away in the breeze as well.

It was peaceful, so incredibly peaceful.

"Hey… Obito?"

Maybe it was his imagination, but it seemed like any and all noise in the clearing had, in that moment, ceased, replaced by an incredible stillness that felt far less comfortable.

"I… you…"

"The dead won't answer your questions, you know."

He felt as if he should've turned, a weapon drawn, and taken a stance that made him look prepared for combat, for battle, but…

Instead, he merely tilted his head to the side, gazing over at the figure he'd been dreading a meeting with, and yet, the one he knew, deep down, he wanted, no, needed to speak with the most.

"You're… Tobi."

The Akatsuki said nothing, merely walking forward until the two of them stood parallel. He still stayed a good four or five feet from Kakashi, but the distance between them could've easily been closed in less than half a second, could've easily resulted in a stand-off that would take either of their lives.

For some reason, however, Kakashi didn't get that impression from the mysterious figure.

"Why are you here?" Kakashi asked, trying to fill the silence with something. "Just decided to show up in a Leaf training ground?"

"I've watched you, on occasion."

He turned towards Tobi, his eyes wider than they'd been a moment before.

"You come here quite often. This time, well, you mentioned me, so I felt the need to make a cameo appearance, at least."

They went quiet again after that, though Kakashi couldn't help but analyze the man beside him, quietly observing as they remained in silence.

He was decently tall, perhaps a few inches shorter than he was. His hair was spiked upwards, and a seemingly naturally black color. He tried not to read into that, to not put two and two together with everything else he'd already learned in the past few days.

It was hard to resist coming to a rather obvious conclusion.

At the same time, however, such a conclusion would've made no sense at all.

He'd died. Kakashi had watched it happen.

He'd sat beside him, heard the boy's final words, had to leave him behind as the cave–

"Nothing more to say?"

Tobi ripped him violently from his thoughts. An idle, hopeful one at the back of his mind pointed out that they sounded almost nothing alike, it couldn't be him.

Another, more rational part of himself pointed out that a ninja could chance their voice without much effort.

"Where'd you get that Sharingan?" He asked the question that'd been burning at the forefront of his mind since Sasuke had spoken with him back in the forest.

"Hmm… let's see…" The man pretended to think about it, but maybe Kakashi was just hyper-analyzing everything at that moment, because he could tell the man's pondering was phony. "I believe it was… the battle of Kannabi Bridge."

Ice shot down his spine, and his eyes widened to what would've, under normal circumstances, been comical proportions. Instead, his breaths came out in short bursts, and he realized with some degree of panic that he was hyperventilating.

"Whatever could be the matter, Kakashi?"

"You… Are you…?"

Tobi said nothing, instead, he stepped up to the memorial, and kneeled down.

"I wonder… why is hers not here? The girl you spoke of earlier, what was her name…"

The man's words felt like they were driving a stake into his heart. Slowly, deliberately arranged to cause him as much anguish as possible.

"Rin." He only barely pushed out of his lips. "Her name was Rin."

"And of my question?"

"Her body… it was never found." Kakashi tried to force himself to calm down, to steady his breathing, but pieces and parts of his history that'd never made sense were suddenly coming into clearer focus, becoming coherent, and he didn't think he could handle it. "It disappeared… after…"

When the Mist ninja had surrounded them, when Rin had been run through with his own Chidori, how, when he'd passed out from the shock, he'd woken up not only alive, but with nary a scratch on him. How, when he'd woken up, the Mist ninja who'd been chasing them were dead, brutalized and carved to pieces around him. How Rin had been missing, despite every ninja who'd come after them being accounted for.

How not even Minato Sensei had been able to locate her.

Tobi said nothing once more. He was looking at the many thousands of gifts that had been left at the foot of the monument, all gifts left by allies, or comrades, or family for those who'd gone on ahead. With a casual air, he reached down with one hand, and grabbed a faded article from the corner.

The pair of goggles in the man's hand were so very clearly aged and worn that it was a crime. They had been sat here through rain and snow, through hail and sleet, and through sun and thunder. They'd braved the elements for over a decade, silently watching over their master, helping him to see.

Tobi placed them back down without a word.

"I wonder what kind of idiot would wear these."

Kakashi felt like he normally would've defended Obito's honor there. Hell, he might've gotten violent over a statement with that much vitriol in it.

He didn't feel the need to do anything when it came to the man before him.

He wondered why.

_'He wondered why'. _Kakashi almost felt the need to laugh. _As if I don't already know._

"The greatest man I ever knew." He spoke instead, trying to keep emotion out of his voice and miserably failing. "He died in that same battle. The battle of Kannabi Bridge."

"Hm. Funny how small the world is, isn't it?"

"…Yeah."

Tobi stepped away from the monument, stepping down and looking up at the sky.

"Ah. It looks like it's going to rain."

Kakashi followed the man's gaze, and, sure enough, the clouds that had, previously, looked white and harmless were now gray and gathering. He felt a small droplet land on his shoulder, and then another, before, with no real ceremony, the rain began in earnest.

When he looked back down, he was almost surprised to find Tobi still standing there, looking up.

"Funny." Kakashi remarked. "I'd almost thought you'd disappear while I wasn't looking."

"Hm." Tobi actually sounded amused. "I thought about it, but I sensed that you'd only hound after me later, anyways. Best to get this out of your system now."

Kakashi wasn't sure why the man would care, supposedly, but he didn't question it.

"I'm actually almost done." Kakashi smiled beneath his mask, finding a bit of his most common emotion, self-loathing, seeping its way into his heart. "Just… one more question."

He noticed then, for the first time, that the rain falling all around them had not once impacted against Tobi's body. It hit where he was supposed to be, sure, but it never contacted, instead passing right through him, and splashing against the muddy ground below.

_His guard's been up this entire time._

"I just wondered… if Obito Uchiha were truly alive, after all this time…" Kakashi tried to think of what to say, of what he really wanted to ask, but the only thing he could think of was… "Why wouldn't he come back to the Leaf Village? To those precious to him?"

Tobi laughed dryly, a frail, quiet thing. It sounded almost fake, and yet, there was a surreal quality to it that told Kakashi it couldn't have been.

"You're asking about the actions of a dead man." Tobi murmured quietly, only barely audible over the rain. "But… well if he were alive… I think that he would've fallen into darkness in the same way many ninja had before. Seeing something so horrible, so at odds with his own beliefs…"

Tobi turned, and perhaps the man purposefully let Kakashi see into the hole in his mask, but he could make out the scarred skin within, what looked to be a spiral pattern running along it, and, of course, a glowing red Sharingan, which illuminated the droplets of rain that fell in front of him.

"Something that contradicted the very promise his friend swore to him as he laid dying…" There was a hate in the man's voice that rooted Kakashi in place. "I think that would've broken him completely."

Suddenly, Kakashi was a young Jonin, trying to wash the blood off his hands in his apartment, and realizing, a few horrid minutes later, that it was caked on far too deeply for it to ever be removed.

He was a bit older, standing before the ninja monument, and sobbing as he begged Obito to forgive him, begged the boy to take care of Rin for him, wherever he was. He spoke the words over and over, pleading with his long lost friend.

Now, when he looked back, he could remember having felt a presence at the edge of his perception, and he wondered now, as an adult, why the man who'd been sitting there had never killed him, had never finished off the pathetic existence in front of him.

He was back on his first day on the job, listening in on the speeches of his team as they told him of their likes and dislikes. It was Naruto's who'd shaken him the most, despite Sasuke speaking of murdering a man in cold blood. The boy had sounded so alike to someone he'd once known, to someone he'd forever respected.

And then, just as suddenly, he was back in the Third Training Ground, standing in front of the memorial stone which housed the names of some of his closest friends. It also housed a single lie. A falsehood of which he now knew the identity of, one that tore at his soul with a fury unforeseen.

Written upon it was the name 'Obito Uchiha'.

When he turned back this time, however…

He was alone.

**End Chapter 56**

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**I have literally no idea what to put here, so instead I will put nothing.  
**

**Two more chapters until we break for a while. That last one will be... quite the doozy.**

**Oh, and thanks for the plethora of reviews for the last chapter, I had a grand time reading them all!**

**See you all next week!**


	57. Chapter 57

**Heylo!**

**Back with another chapter of the completely happy, nothing-ever-goes-wrong story 'Trip Down a Hill'. What fun escapades will our heroes get up to this week!?**

**Without further ado... It's sadness. Sadness is what they'll be getting up to this week.**

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**Hey so, _Trigger Warning_, this chapter delves into some pretty heavy shit, including Suicidal thoughts, unhealthy relationships, and self-worth. If that kind of stuff gets to you, then you can find a short summary of the chapter below the ending notes section.**

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**Chapter 57: Kind Manipulation**

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Naruto and the rest of Team 7, along with most of the other members of the Sasuke and Sakura Retrieval squad, stood silently in front of the Hokage's desk.

The only people absent were the sand trio, who were currently being escorted back to their village by Guy and his squad of Genin; Anko, who had, as she'd told Tsunade, taken on double the allotment of missions to make up for getting to go on this one, and left the village almost the moment she was fully rested; Dosu, who was stuck in the hospital while he recovered from his wounds, and…

_Zabuza._

He spared another glance towards Haku, who still looked just as miserable as he had the entire last week. Luckily, he'd been able to convince granny to postpone their mission debriefing, in the hopes that he'd have cheered up some by the time it came around.

If anything, he'd gotten much, much worse, and time had carried on, uncaring to Haku's plight.

Tsunade herself seemed to be at a loss on how to properly address them as well. Her eyes constantly darted towards Haku whenever the boy wasn't looking, and she'd seemed on edge since the moment they'd walked in the room. Shizune had been trying to calm her down, slowly rubbing the woman's shoulders, but it seemed to be having no effect.

Just as he was thinking that, the woman turned and nodded to her retainer, who stepped away from Tsunade and bowed politely, before excusing herself to her normal position beside the desk.

"Well then…" The slug princess began, taking a deep breath, before looking up at and addressing them all. "Your mission was a success."

Even those words, as bland and inoffensive as Tsunade could make them, seemed to dampen Haku's mood. He balled his hands into fists and bit down on his bottom lip, trying to control himself.

"The loss of Zabuza Momochi is truly great, and we will be holding a memorial to honor him." Tsunade looked over at Haku, who, weakly, met the woman's eyes. "His funeral service will be held tomorrow. I assume you were already told of this?"

The boy nodded silently.

"He didn't leave a will, well, not in writing, but he told me when I prodded him to just give all his possessions to you." Tsunade seemed to remember the memory fondly, even if the mood held her down. "That makes the Executioner's blade your own, as well as the apartment the two of you shared. As a medal of his service, the rental fee will be waived. For good."

Naruto couldn't help but feel they shouldn't be in the room to hear this, but, well, they were ninja, it wasn't always an option to have full confidentiality.

"I understand." Haku finally uttered. "Thank you, Hokage."

"There's actually something else." The woman reached under her desk, and from out of it, she pulled three vests. "Here. Naruto, Sakura, and Haku. Congratulations, you're Chuunin of the Leaf."

It was a bit funny that only two or so weeks ago, he'd been gunning for this so badly that when Sasuke had received it and not he, he'd been briefly offended. Now, looking down at it, he felt a growing bile rise in his stomach.

_This is what I was after? _Naruto questioned. _This is what being a ninja means?_

He looked towards the rest of the group and saw similar expressions on all their faces. Sakura didn't look like she felt very confident either, and he had a feeling that was due to having weighed them down quite a bit through her curse marks rage. Still, the transformation, which she was still having a bit of trouble controlling, had come in handy multiple times both inside and outside the base. As had Haku, the boy had saved his life more times than he could remember, both from Deidara when the man had been about to drop explosions upon them, and from Tobi, as the man tried to grab him and force him into his eye.

In stark contrast to the two of them, he hadn't done a single thing.

He'd needed saving from practically every situation he'd gotten himself into, whether it was fighting that weird Pain with the rockets in his arms, or trying to run away with the rest of the group from the Akatsuki, time after time, they'd come to his rescue.

He'd weighed them down, over and over, and in the end, Zabuza had been forced to pay the price for his weakness. He gazed down at the ground, clenching his teeth together and feeling like he wanted to slam his fists into the cool tile beneath him.

_Look at me, pitying myself. _Naruto almost laughed.

_…How pathetic._

/-/

The funeral was short, and for that, Sakura was grateful.

She'd never been good in high-emotion environments, a bit prone to crying, but she'd managed to hold herself back for the brief time she'd needed to. They'd been unable to recover Zabuza's body, and apparently, that significantly cut down on the length of the service.

Still, as she looked around, she couldn't help feeling an intense melancholy. There were very few people present, barring Haku, the rest of her team, Kiba and a few members of his close family, and Zaku and Kin. Dosu was a no-show, but, to be honest, that wasn't his fault, he was still in the hospital. Besides him, every member of their retrieval team who was present in the village, and in good enough shape to attend, had attended.

Ino and her father had come by as well, though even his crushes appearance did nothing to mask Haku's sadness, other than a cursory 'thanks' as the two entered and paid their respects.

"Couldn't find the body…" Ino muttered under her breath. "How horrible…"

Sakura nodded.

"The Akatsuki… they might've taken it."

Ino nodded, but otherwise ignored Sakura's statement. Her eyes narrowed slightly, given that this wasn't a new phenomenon. She'd noticed the girl's behavior a few days before when they'd first met up. She'd been short with all of them, but Sakura most of all. She was about to ask the girl what was going on, but before she could, Haku had spoken up.

"I'm glad it was small." Haku's voice rang out solemnly after the incense around the tomb had fully burnt out. "He would've hated a larger crowd, or people he wasn't all that close to coming." Sakura smiled at the boy's words but couldn't help the wave of sorrow that washed over as she noticed tears running down the teens face. "He… He really…"

Ino stepped over and hugged him close to her, allowing him to sob quietly into her shirt. The rest of the group stood around awkwardly, still unsure of how to deal with their current scenario. She'd not had the chance to go to the Third Hokage's funeral, being stuck in Root at the time, but she'd always wished she'd been able to go, to comfort Naruto in his time of grief.

She wished she'd been given any time to do anything at all for the last two or so months, really. It'd been the Chuunin Exams, traveling through the forest of death, training for the third test, and fighting Gaara in the woods. Then, she'd been taken by Root, hadn't even been given a chance for a break before she was thrust back in, having to try and master the Wood Style, before having to break out with Anko, and save the woman's life.

**Then **they'd had to break _back in _to try and fight Danzo, found him dead after being attacked by two Akatsuki, and she'd summarily fallen into a medically induced sleep for the next week. After that, immediately after she'd gotten back, she'd been kidnapped by those bastards from the Sound, experimented on, and turned into some wicked demon monster with hand-wings.

She breathed out a tired sigh just thinking about it.

She almost didn't want to think it, but it seemed like they'd be getting a chance to just relax for a while. She couldn't help hating herself for thinking that, when it came off the back of one of her friend's father dying.

Haku himself seemed to have recovered slightly, still holding onto Ino as the girl lightly rubbed the back of his head with her hand. After a few more minutes, during which their group only made idle, forced small talk, Haku finally broke away, and turned to address the rest of them.

"I… Thank you all, for coming, I mean it." Haku gave a watery smile. "I greatly appreciate it, and I know… He would've as well, even if he never would've admitted it."

That, at least, brought a smile to their faces. Zabuza has been a hardass to the end, but he'd had his own soft side, even if it was mostly reserved for the boy before them.

"I'm going to head on home." Haku announced after a few more seconds. "Really… thank you all. Thank you."

The boy bowed his head, and before Sakura could reach out, tell him he didn't have to make such a gesture before them, he was already wiping at his eyes and running away, back towards the apartment the two of them had shared.

Something felt horribly off, but she wasn't quite sure why.

The rest of them stuck around for a while, still caught in the mournful atmosphere. It was Kiba and his family who left first, waving goodbye to the rest of them as the young beast-master knelt down in front of Zabuza's grave once more, giving his final thanks before excusing himself. Zaku and Kin followed, saying they'd be heading to the hospital to talk to Dosu, and see how he was doing. Naruto and Sasuke took off next, resolving to go and get some much-needed rest.

She stuck around because Ino did.

"I… I'm going to go check on him." Ino finally spoke, kneeling down in front of Zabuza's grave and saying something under her breath that Sakura only barely caught. "I won't let anything happen to him, I promise."

Her eyes narrowed at that. It was a good sentiment, and she couldn't help but admire her friend for having it, but…

Something was wrong.

"Ino?" She asked, waiting for the girl to turn and look up at her to continue speaking. "Is something the matter?"

Ino brushed her off, walking out of the graveyard and towards the village, towards where Haku lived. It wasn't that far, a few blocks, at most. Still, she needed to know what was going on with Ino, first and foremost.

"Hey." She stopped the girl in place, holding her there with some of her newfound strength. "Talk to me."

"It's fine, Sakura." Ino turned back around, and Sakura got her first good look at the girl's face. She looked… terrible. "I'm just… just a bit tired, is all."

That wasn't it at all. If Sakura were being honest, she'd not even noticed the girl's less than stellar physical condition. She noticed, instead, the clipped way with which her best friend addressed her, the looks that hung for far less time than they normally would, and the shaking of her lip as she averted her gaze, even now.

Ino was angry with her. And seemed to have been for a while.

"What's the matter?"

"I said, I'm just a bit-"

"Ino." Her response was almost curt in it's shortness, but she needed the girl to listen to her. "Please."

Her best friend took a deep breath, seemingly trying to calm herself down.

"What's with this? You look like you haven't slept right in weeks. You're being short with me, you've barely spoken with me since we got back, and-"

"Since you got back, huh?"

The statement shocked her enough to stop her from speaking, and instead, she took a step back, effectively surrendering the stage to Ino.

They stood silently for a few seconds, looking down off of the hill they stood upon and out at the Leaf Village. It was the very cusp of dusk, meaning the sun was setting on the horizon, preparing to give way to the night. Still, the village was alive with people, all going about their days like nothing was amiss, knowing nothing of the hero who'd died just the other day, who'd been buried behind them without a body just an hour or two ago, and of the argument currently being had, just above them.

"Feels like you're always coming back." Her friend turned to her; eyes cold but filled with fire. "Feels like you're always off on some dangerous mission, being pulled this way and that, while I'm being left behind, stuck waiting up for you til' the crack of dawn, thinking, wondering if the last time we ever talked is going to end up being the last thing I get to say to you!"

Sakura took a step back, staggering slightly as the girl's words shot into her. Still, a second later, the contradictions in the girl's statement became obvious, and she rounded back on the girl, feeling a bit of anger course through her veins.

"Ino, you have to know, I didn't have a choice!" Sakura shouted, and if they weren't on their lonesome, she had no doubt they would've drawn the attention of everyone around them. "I was dragged into all of it! You think I wanted to go to Root, or to Orochimaru, or fight the Akatsuki!?"

"I know that!" Ino screamed back, and now she couldn't help noticing a few tears on her friends face. "I know you didn't have a choice, but…" It seemed the girl's real feelings were about to come out, no longer masked. "But when you assaulted Root, why wasn't I contacted? When they were assembling a team to go and rescue you all, why wasn't I brought in? And when a squadron was formed to go save you guys in the forest…"

She gritted her teeth together, before looking up into Sakura's face, tears running down her own.

"Why wasn't I even considered!?" Ino let loose her feelings, finally being honest with her. "The first time… when you guys attacked Root… that time I brushed off. It seemed a bit too high-level for me anyways, but… but then you went and got kidnapped. I don't blame you… of course I don't blame you, but… No one even bothered telling me for three whole fucking days, Sakura!"

"I mean… don't I matter!?" Ino shouted, walking over to her, and grabbing her arms, shaking her slightly with every word. "I'm a ninja too! I can fight, I'm not some weak, demure girl to get trampled over! So… so why does everyone keep leaving me behind!?"

Sakura felt like she wanted to respond, wanted to get a word in edgewise, but couldn't. Something in the girl's words, some part there she didn't understand, meshed with her.

_Oh, right… _Sakura realized a moment later. _This is… how I used to feel about Naruto… and Sasuke…_

She hadn't even really realized it, but somewhere along their crazy last couple of months, she'd been able to put her fears of Naruto and Sasuke leaving her behind to bed. They weren't gone, not completely, but they'd dissipated to such a degree that seeing Ino now, right in front of her, with the exact same issue was…

It was nauseating.

It was nauseating, because all she wanted to say in response to the girl was exactly what'd been said to her. 'We're not leaving you behind' or 'You're strong, we know that'. At the time, they'd sounded empty, like meaningless fluff the two had spouted to make her feel better about her weakness. Now, on the other end of the speech, she didn't have a clue what else the two could've said.

So instead, she stayed silent.

"I… I won't let Haku down." Ino looked up at her, drying her tears with the back of her sleeve. "I'm not going to abandon him, not like-" The girl cut herself off, which was good, because Sakura wasn't sure she would've been able to take what she was almost sure the girl was going to say. "Not after everything that's happened to him."

"And is that fair to you?" She asked without really meaning to, finding the words spilling from out of her mouth. "What do you want?"

"Does what I want matter?" The girl asked depressively, and at this point, Sakura was fairly sure the girl was just trying to hurt her feelings, in a bit of a vindictive way. "Because so far, it hasn't seemed to."

She clicked her teeth together.

"You'll regret saying that." She tried to end the argument before it could continue. "An hour from now, you'll regret this whole thing ever happened, so just apologize and we can-"

"Shut. Up." Ino turned around, baring her teeth with rage. "Think I'm an idiot? I…" The girl's anger faded slowly, gradually diminishing over the course of a few seconds. They were best friends, knew each other inside and out. It was hard for them to really stay mad at each other. "You've been kind of a dick lately, y'know?"

Sakura couldn't fault the girl for that, given that she had some idea where some of that new energy was coming from.

"Yes, well, forgive me for having an evil mad scientist turn me into some demon creature."

Ino breathed out a laugh, though it was quiet, barely existent at all.

"Hey…" It was Sakura's voice this time, just as low as her friend's had been. "We're still… we're still friends, right?"

Because despite her earlier notion that best friends couldn't stay mad at each other, if Ino had decided that they weren't any longer…

"Of course!" Ino spoke the words like they were obvious, and Sakura disguised a breath of relief into her elbow as a sneeze. "I don't want this to chance anything between us, I'm just…"

The girl sighed, walking a bit off the path, and sitting down on the side of a grassy hill. The wind played with her hair, and it practically glowed in the sunset. A moment later, Sakura took the girl's silent invitation, sitting right down beside her.

"I'm just mad." The girl sighed out. "All that… means something to me. And I know that might sound stupid to you, but… but I'm scared of being left behind. Of… of not being there when my friends are in danger, not being able to help them… having to know that they died not because I was there for their final moments, but because I was told about it, days after it happened. I'm scared of… of not being wanted… of not being needed."

The sun had almost fully set, casting an intense orange haze over everything on their hill. In stark contrast to them, however, the bottom of the village was already being cast into shadow, the houses closest to the cliff face obscured in darkness.

"Hey, c'mon." Sakura spoke, reaching over and lightly tapping her friends nose with one finger. "That wasn't stupid at all."

"W-what?" Ino turned towards her, looking confused.

"You said that was going to be stupid," Sakura smiled, using the words Anko had once said to her to make her feel validated. "Yet here you are, having a legitimate concern."

Ino open and closed her mouth, gaping at her like a fish. She wondered if she'd looked the same when Anko had said those very words to her, back during the Chuunin Exams.

"Y'know, I used to feel the exact same way." Sakura admitted to someone other than Anko for the first time. Well, that wasn't quite right, she'd told that one guy back during the assault on Danzo's base, but he'd been a dick about it, so she'd chosen to ignore him. "I kept worrying and fretting about Naruto and Sasuke surpassing me, but…"

"But what?" Ino responded annoyedly. "You got stronger, too. But we don't all get the option to unlock long-lost arts or have demonic strength-giving marks placed on our necks, Sakura."

"Yeah, but we can all train." Sakura fired back, and even to her, it sounded like a weak retort. She needed to back it up further. "Sure, I might have gotten those things to catch up to them, but the only things Sasuke and Naruto have ever had are the Sharingan and the Nine-Tails, and for Naruto, his carries draw-backs just as heavy as my curse mark. But still, they trained, and trained, and worked their asses off to get better. And look at you! You're of a prestigious ninja family, you have a hidden art! You can be just as good as any of them with a bit of work, can't you!?"

Ino looked down, lightly kicking a small weed with one of her feet. It swayed, but didn't give in, returning to the exact same position as it's stem bent back.

"Tough little bastard." Ino swore under her breath, looking back over towards Sakura as she lost interest in the thing. "Sure, whatever. I'll buy your little 'hard work is everything' speech. Honestly, though, did Lee put you up to that? Sounds like something he'd say."

She snorted.

"Can't say I came up with that one on my own." She remarked as she sat up. "My teacher gave me those lines."

"Ah. Well, let Ms. Anko know I thought they were lame as all hell."

"I'm not telling her that."

Ino smiled, but the expression deadened quickly over the next few seconds. Soon, she wore at best a frown, at worst, a depressive stare. She was silent as she stood up and began walking towards the village once more.

"I'm not changing my mind on this, Sakura." She turned back around, and Sakura could see the conviction in her eyes, even if she hated it. "I… I'm the only one who can… who can save him. Don't tell me you didn't see it, earlier."

Sakura had, if she were being honest with herself. Haku had excused himself just a bit too longingly, said his goodbye's just a bit too meaningfully. Everything out of the boy's mouth had sounded so…

Final.

"I saw it."

"Then… I'm going to do what I have to do." Ino told her once more, shooting her a weak smile. "Honestly, Haku's a good kid, but he can't hide his emotions for shit. I mean, I knew he was into me the first time he came into my shop, and he thinks he can hide _this _from us?"

Sakura wanted to laugh along with the girl, to try and find some humor in the situation, but she just couldn't. Haku was a sweetie, a terribly kind boy who'd been dealt one of the worst hands in existence. And yet, he'd received a single good thing in his life, one real connection…

And it'd been snatched away.

"I know it… I can be useful. I can be wanted, _needed_." Ino's face became momentarily clouded, but she shook those feelings away a second later. "I'll do what I have to. Because it's the right thing to do."

"And… is that fair to you?" Sakura stepped forward, her convictions wavering with her best friends happiness on the line.

"Repeating yourself now, Sakura?"

She was caught. She didn't have any way to stop her friend, and even then, it felt like it was wrong to stop Ino in the first place. What she was going to do… it was a good thing, in a way, but…

"No… you… do what you have to." Sakura spoke, walking forward and stepping past Ino.

She walked for a while, descending a set of stone steps that led to the base of the hill the cemetery resided on. When she made it to the bottom, she looked back up, seeing Ino around halfway down herself.

"But… if you ever feel like… it's too much," Sakura took a deep breath. "Please know you can rely on me, OK?"

Ino's response was a simple lean, falling forward as Sakura caught her. She didn't quite know what to say, even as her best friend reached around her back and hugged Sakura tightly.

"Of course."

/-/

Ino arrived at Haku's… well, Zabuza and Haku's apartment not too long after she'd finished talking with Sakura. She'd rushed there, but even so, on foot, it'd taken a good half hour.

_"And… is that fair to you?"_

She shrugged off her best friends wisdom. She knew what she was getting herself into. Knew what it was she was going to do.

_You think too much of me, Sakura. _She couldn't help but think to herself as she walked around to the side of the building, finding the stairway leading up. _I'm not the goody-two-shoes you think I am._

She ascended the small flight of stairs to get to Haku's room, and while doing so, she couldn't help a bit of nervousness filling her, infecting even her walking as she nearly slipped on a step, barely grabbing onto the hold beside her and taking a shaky breath.

_I'm fine._

_I'm completely… completely fine._

She climbed the rest of the steps without incident and took the rest of the trip to Haku's room in stride. It was a rather short journey to put so much effort into, but still, she wanted to reach his room as quickly as she could.

She was quite worried.

She stepped up to the boy's room and, after briefly hesitating, knocked twice.

The door swung open on the second impact.

That struck her as odd, but didn't immediately cause her to panic. She stepped into the space quietly, not wanting to disturb Haku if he'd gone to sleep. Still, she wasn't quite sure how she felt about stepping into his space completely unannounced, and so she resolved to cry out quietly.

"Haku?" She called without any real volume behind it. "Are you there? It's Ino."

There was no response. She lingered in the doorway for a moment longer, before she sighed and let herself in. It was more than a little awkward, but still, she wouldn't excuse herself if something happened.

She walked cautiously to the hallway in the back of the room, which led to a set of two bedrooms. She knew not which was Haku's, for she'd never been there before, but she simply chose one at random, not having the time to knock. She turned the knob and pushed the door open.

Her eyes turned slowly tow–

"HAKU!"

Haku was atop his bed, his legs splayed out as he kneeled down. His head turned towards her, eyes bulging as the sweat that had gathered all over his face poured down. In his teeth was his shirt, which bad been pulled up to expose his chest. There was a small piece of paper next to him as well, folded up and creased rather neatly. That wasn't what had Ino so terrified, however.

No, that was the kunai in the boy's hands, held aloft in the air above him, threatening to plunge downwards at any moment.

She didn't stop to think, or to ask anything else. She charged forwards, running up to Haku and diving towards him. She tackled the boy off of his bed, sending them both careening to the floor. Luckily, in doing so, she'd knocked the knife out of his hand, sending it spiraling away across the wooden boards.

"I-Ino!?" The boy sounded appalled, looking up at her with an almost crazed expression. "What– What the hell are you doing here!?"

_I was worried you'd be doing exactly this. _Ino thought to herself, trying and failing to hold the boy still. _I was worried you'd see no value in your own life, that you'd end it all to be with the one you loved once more._

_And I was right!_

She didn't say anything aloud, couldn't, really. It was more than she had available given that she was already fully exerting herself to hold the boy's arms from reaching over and retaking his blade. Even so, Haku broke free without much effort, kicking her off of him and sending her careening back, hitting her head hard on the floor as she landed.

She forced herself up, knowing she didn't have the time to sit and be in pain. She looked over, watching with no small degree of panic as Haku reached towards the kunai on the floor below him. His expression was conflicted, but Ino couldn't take the time to analyze all the little emotions playing across his face.

**_NO!_**

She brought her hands out, and formed the seal of her family's hidden art.

"Mind Transfer Jutsu!"

The telltale sound of the Jutsu's activation rang out around them, and Ino's body slumped forward onto the wood, hitting it's head once more. She knew she'd be feeling that later, but at that particular moment, she didn't much care.

She was inside Haku's mind now.

She took a second to allow herself to breath, well, she took a second to allow Haku to breath, because it seemed, in the minutes leading up to his attempted suicide, he hadn't much thought about the act at all.

_"Ino!? What…"_

She turned towards the sound of the voice. Well, it was hard to say turned, since she was really just existing inside the boy's head. It was more that she'd tuned into his voice.

_"What the hell were you thinking!?"_

It was perhaps a graceless way of going about this, and Ino knew that. Still, she couldn't quite manage to shelve her grief, her anger, or her sorrow at seeing one of her closest friends holding a knife above their head, ready to gouge out their own heart.

_"Wha…"_

_"You… You're…"_

She had no clue what to say. What was there to say? Haku had clearly, somewhere along the past week or so, decided his life without Zabuza by his side was meaningless. Obviously, by the boys pained goodbye's earlier in the day, his thanking them all for several minutes, this had not been a spur of the moment decision. He'd been thinking about this for a while, probably even before his and Team 7's meeting with the Hokage.

So how the hell was she supposed to talk him down. He knew this was wrong, he knew he shouldn't do this.

Did he? Did he really? Or did he truly think this was the only path left for him to take? If he did…

Then what was she supposed to do?

_First… gather information. _She fought to keep herself calm. _A kunoichi's mission is ten times as difficult if she knows nothing going in._

_"Haku… were you… really going to do it?"_

Because technically, Haku could've been about to place the knife down beside him for all she knew. She'd reacted on instinct, charging, and tackling him to the floor, but he hadn't tried to kill himself in the scant seconds it'd taken her to react.

It painted a sad picture in her head. One she wasn't really sure she wanted to be gazing at.

She could sort of see Haku. It wasn't exactly a perfect portrait of him in her head, but it was… like an outline of him, made from energy. His was a cool, icy blue color, closer to white than anything else.

As of right now, it seemed… dead. Lifeless. She hesitated to make any blanket statements, but…

_"What did it look like?" _The boy murmured under his breath, his aura flashing slightly.

Once more, she was left reeling. His tone wasn't defiant, or sure of himself, confident in what he'd been about to do. She supposed, without saying anything, that people rarely were.

_"What it looked like…" _Ino took a second to collect herself, to gather all of her energy into her body. _"What it looked like was that you were hurting, and scared, and terrified of what you were about to do!"_

Haku didn't react. Didn't say a thing. If anything, he'd grown colder, slinking further back into his shell, hiding away from her.

She couldn't keep this up forever. Her ability with the Mind Transfer was at a Genin level, and while her father could practically hold one indefinitely, she could manage no more than fifteen minutes.

She'd already wasted five.

She was struggling trying to think up anything to keep the boy present, keep him in the here and now. She arrived at something after another minute or so spent deliberating, and her voice came out in a panicked gasp as she fired it off at him, hoping for a bullseye.

_"What about your revenge!?" _She questioned him, wanting to appeal to something, anything to keep the boy around. _"That guy…" _She struggled to remember the name Sakura had told her, the swordsman who'd taunted Haku with Zabuza's sword, and cursed herself once more for being too weak to have been brought along. _"Kisame! What about him, how will you get your revenge if… you…"_

She stopped speaking as she saw Haku's energy grow even dimmer. It was nearly black now, despite usually being a bright, icy blue.

_"I've been asking myself since we got back… since my anger faded, and I was left with nothing but this… hollow hole in my chest…" _Haku's voice rung out quietly, echoing in the vast expanse of his mindscape. _"How the hell did Sasuke do it? How did he… subsist on revenge when he'd lost… everything?"_

Ino started opening her mouth but closed it a second later.

_Sasuke had found something to go on for. _She wanted to say. _He found Naruto, and Sakura, and me, and… a reason to keep living through us._

But she didn't. Because even she had been able to see the way Sasuke had carried himself back then. The raw, pained anguish in his face, the way he dedicated himself even further to his studies, how he'd fallen hopelessly into anger and rage so quickly, so effortlessly, that she'd almost forgotten he'd used to be a quiet introvert, sat at the front of the classroom, doing his best to get good grades and blend in.

He'd been… different. She had no doubt believing that if the boy hadn't met Naruto that day, he'd have been perfectly fine to have continued onwards, soldiering forward towards whatever bleak fate awaited him. Haku, on the other hand…

Seemed unable to do the same.

_"I… I just can't do it, Ino." _Haku muttered to her quietly. _"You can call me weak, or… or pathetic all you want, but-"_

_"I'd never say that!" _She stepped towards the approximation of him. _"I can't say I know what it must be like, but… but I can imagine."_

She could feel her mind transfer running out, could feel the power slipping through her fingers, and knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that she couldn't hold Haku down if he tried to redo his past attempt. If he tried to commit suicide again… she wouldn't be able to do anything in her current state.

She took a deep, shaky breath, and focused hard. She needed her next words to shake Haku, to shake him to the point where he'd have no choice but to face her. To want to talk with her. To not…

_"Maybe… Maybe you're right, Haku." _She watched as the boy's energy fluctuated harshly, and a blackness enveloped the figure before her. Her vision distorted wildly as her chakra dwindled. She had seconds. _"Maybe… you can't go on, you really can't manage to live without him, maybe all of that's true… But y'know what?" _

For what felt like the first time that entire conversation, Haku's eyes met her own.

_"When I barged in here, and you were about to… to take your own life… you looked over at me. What I saw in your eyes… was panic, and surprise, sure… but that wasn't all."_

She walked forward, finding the movement coming to her surprisingly easily, as she reached out and touched the Haku before her. A tiny bit of her golden aura leaked out onto him, and the color of his body became a paradoxically corrupted blue, marred by both black and gold.

_"You were glad to see me, weren't you?"_

Haku's aura pulsed, sending a wave of energy across his mind that pushed her back, tried to push her out of the depths of his psyche itself. Still, in that moment, she confirmed the theory that had hung at the back of her head this entire time. She pushed forward, not giving the boy a second to form a wall around himself, to deny her words.

_"…Please, please Ino, I…"_

_"You were so lost and afraid, so terribly stricken with grief, that you couldn't even think about an alternative."_

_"Stop it…"_

_"But… through it all, you hoped you'd hear a knock on your door. You hoped someone would barge their way into your apartment, would come and find you in your room."_

_"Shut up… just… just shut up!"_

_"Because you wanted someone to come and stop you… right?"_

Haku screamed in agony, and she was ejected from the boy's head without any further fanfare. She found herself in her own body but knew she couldn't focus on the pain in her skull. Instead, she forced herself up, and forward, crawling quickly across the wooden floorboards as she tackled the orphaned boy once more.

"You…" She spoke aloud now, no longer in the confines of Haku's head, and no longer needing to be.

"You wanted someone to come and _save_ you, right?"

The boy's eyes fluttered open, and within them, she saw a story sadder than any she'd ever want to open. Still, she turned the first page, read through the book as best she could, until at last, she arrived at the ending. She put aside the story and leaned forward, until their foreheads touched awkwardly against one another.

"Please." She whispered to him as she placed her hands on his chest, holding herself slightly aloft. "I'll save you… so… so you can… _need_ me, OK?"

_'And… is that fair to you?'_

She could hear Sakura's voice in her mind, playing almost endlessly on repeat. It had been for some time now, the naïve voice of her best friend, who saw Ino herself as some saint, willing to do all of this for Haku alone…

Haku's mouth hung open, and he stared up at her, completely shocked. In that moment, she could feel the weight of the boy's expectations, the heavy and unwieldy weight that threatened to crush her underneath, grow larger and larger. She felt she should've cowered under that weight, feared it, but instead, she relished in it, let it fill her with a warm glow.

She was needed here. The boy below her would rely on her and her alone. He'd never leave her behind or shun her away. No, he was incapable of such a betrayal.

Because Haku needed her absolutely.

"You… don't…" The boy seemed to want to reject her feelings, seemed to want to push her away. He got closer to her instead. "I…"

It was funny, she was younger than Haku by perhaps two years, and yet even still, she felt in complete control.

"You promise?"

She pushed forward slightly, her lips a hairs-width from Haku's own.

"Mm." She hummed, practically into the boy's lips themselves. "I promise."

Haku himself closed the remainder of the distance, bringing their lips together in silent union. It felt to Ino that all sound in the rest of the room should've faded, or her cheeks should've blazed like a wildfire, or she should've seen fireworks go off in the distance. but no, her first kiss really wasn't that much to write home about. And then it was over, as if nothing had happened at all.

She felt dirtier somehow, as if she'd tainted something pure.

_I did what I had to do. I saved Haku. _Even still, she knew that statement to be the truth, despite all the extra baggage._ He would've died without me._

_He would've died without me._

_He'd die without me._

She tried to ignore how that made her feel. Her chest tightened, and her mind became almost hazy. She felt intoxicated with the feeling. The feeling of being relied upon completely.

As she looked back down at Haku, she saw that the boy was crying. It was a small thing, at first. The boy's tears fell down his face quietly, until at last, it seemed he could no longer hold in the tirade that lied behind his eyes. She held him closely as he bawled openly, staining her shirt with his tears as they huddled together on the floor.

And for a while, Haku simply cried. Yet, even still, she cradled him. It was far from healthy for either of them, and she knew that. Like Sakura had said, it wasn't fair, but at least that went both ways.

A relationship between a boy who'd lost the only thing he'd ever had, who desperately required something to cling to, and a girl who'd indulge that request. For it was her own desire, wanting nothing more than to be needed, to be cherished absolutely, and held above any other.

She almost felt the need to laugh at them, at the sorry state they found themselves in.

Like a couple of puzzle pieces, they fit together so…

Awfully.

/-/

Sakura, like the rest of her team, sat silently in her stool at Ichiraku Ramen.

She listened as Naruto slurped up the last few noodles of his fourth bowl, Sasuke just behind him at three, and stared silently at her own bowl, which remained untouched.

She had no appetite. A small part of her wanted to yell at the others for being able to have one, but she ignored that part of herself.

She noticed she'd been having to do that a lot more often, ignore a part of herself that screamed she should act in anger or hate. She couldn't help but pin that on the evolution of her curse mark, which still, days after she'd last activated it, ached restlessly upon her neck, it's black flames almost begging to be let out.

They'd been waiting for Kakashi to show up, technically. The gathering was, in theory, to be a part in celebration of their team-wide promotions to Chuunin, and the sort-of-graduation that came about from it.

Kakashi had cancelled on them last minute.

He'd done that more than once.

It'd started last week, around the time they got back from their mission. He'd seemed a bit scatterbrained then, but after he'd left for what they'd learned over the course of their tutelage under him was his daily trip to the memorial stone, he'd come back…

Changed.

The look in his eye was all wrong, like he was lost, confused, and alone, forging ahead in a world he didn't know. She had no idea what could've caused their normally unflappable teacher to grow so… flappable, but whatever it was, she wasn't sure she wanted to find out.

_Stupid curse mark… _She blamed the thing for her own weakness of heart. _If Kakashi's in trouble, then we'll go help him out. That's Team 7, that's who we are._

She wasn't sure how much the curse mark had to do with her prior thoughts, but still… it was an easy out from facing her faults.

She watched Naruto out of the corner of her eye, seeing him gaze at the both of them, giving a curious expression. A moment later, he stood up from his seat, and placed his allotment of food money on the counter, which Ayame gratefully pocketed.

"Alright, you two, I'm heading out." Naruto announced suddenly. "If Kakashi's not showing up, then I don't see any real reason to stick around."

Sakura raised an eyebrow, looking over at Sasuke and seeing the boy shooting her a similar look. Clearly, something was up.

It wasn't like Naruto to pass up friend-hanging-time.

"How about you two use this time to… take a walk, chat with each other, and, oh, I don't know… finally have that conversation you've been putting off for a good two months?"

A certain redness came to Sakura's face immediately, and she pointedly turned away from Sasuke, not wanting to meet her teammates eyes.

"Oh my go– just…" The boy leaned back, groaning up at the sky. "How about you just try? Please, for the love of _**me**,_ because I can't stand this any longer."

With no further ceremony, Naruto pushed himself away from the bar, and walked back towards his apartment. Sakura and Sasuke were left in silence, and for the former, she wasn't exactly sure what they were supposed to do now.

Luckily, at least, it seemed Sasuke was. He placed down a small sum of change on the counter in front of him as he stood up.

"Here. We'll be heading out."

There was, in fact, a part of her that wanted to protest, but, well… The rest of her didn't, so she followed his lead.

They left Ichiraku without any hurry, sort of wandering as they made their way through the Leaf. They weren't discussing anything quite yet, but they also weren't going their separate ways. The both of them knew the conversation they needed to have, but…

That didn't make it suddenly _easy_ to have.

They walked for a long while, just soaking in the atmosphere of the evening. Sakura herself couldn't help but worry about Haku, just a little bit, but even still, she wanted to put her faith in Ino. Even if she thought the girl was making the wrong choice…

She couldn't fault her for it either.

"Gah." Sasuke finally spat out when it seemed they'd get nowhere. "Was this this hard last time?"

Sakura remembered back to their time in the Forest of Death, when they'd spent a good ten minutes just deciding they didn't want to talk about it right then…

"Yeah." Sakura admitted honestly. "It was."

Sasuke breathed out a laugh.

"Well, at least we're honest about it."

Once more, they seemed to regress into silence. Sakura almost wanted to stick there, in that zone of comfort, and not have to leave, to face herself and Sasuke and whatever the hell bond they'd formed. And yet, somewhere, at the back of her mind, a voice called out that she should stop being such a baby and go for it.

For what felt like the first time, she agreed with that voice.

"I like you." She forced out, practically panting as she breathed in relief. "Whew. There, I said it."

Despite what she'd hoped would happen (Sasuke would blush embarrasedly, he'd dramatically profess his love for her, and they'd live happily ever after), the boy beside her merely nodded.

"Well yeah, I knew that."

Her mouth hung open.

"Er…" Sasuke seemed to realize that what he'd just said could've been construed as really stupid. "I could've worded that better."

And yet, somehow, the boys words were endlessly endearing. She found herself grinning from ear to ear, before what began as a small giggle gradually descended into a chaotic and uncontrolled cackle.

"Uhm…"

"T-That was… Snrk…" She tried to control her laughter, failing miserably. "The perfect response!"

"S-Sakura…" The boy blushed now, though not quite how she'd hoped before.

"A plus, plus, plus!" She shouted, attracting the attention of some nearby stall-owners as she leaned on the boy beside her, propping herself up on his body to keep herself from falling over in her revelry. "No one's ever done better!"

"Hey…"

"And the winner for greatest-conversation-holder-ever award goes to-"

"Alright, alright!" Sasuke cut her off there, maddeningly red as he pushed her off of him, averting his eyes from her own. "That's… my bad."

She snickered once more but managed to reign in the feeling.

"Well, would you like to try responding to my, might I say, perfect confession once more?"

"Oh, it was perfect, was it?"

"Find fault in it, I dare you."

"No, I'd like to keep all my limbs."

She giggled once more, an easy sort of calm settling over the both of them as they fell back on old habits.

She couldn't let that happen.

"Okay, seriously though," She turned, gripping onto Sasuke's left hand and holding it in both of hers. "I… well, I said my piece. It's your turn."

Sasuke opened his mouth, though whether or not it'd been for protest or agreement, she'd never know, for he shut it the instant after. It was only after what felt like a minute passed by in silence that she had a terrifying thought.

_Wait… what if Sasuke doesn't feel the same way?_

She'd always just sort of assumed he had. His behavior around her has been much the same as hers, blushing and stammering and stumbling over their words. She'd always equated that with feelings, but if he truly were just that normally awkward… if he didn't have those feelings for her as well…

She forced down the bile hanging in her throat, trying not to think of it. Instead, she looked up at Sasuke, seeing the boy still weighing something over in his head. She swallowed once more, keeping herself calm, and spoke.

"Uhm, Sasuke?"

He turned towards her, still unsure.

"I don't… want you to feel pressured, or anything, OK?" She forced herself to keep going, despite how much it hurt. "If you don't feel the same, then-"

"Wha– No! I do feel the same, it's just-"

And now it was Sakura's turn to be surprised. She turned on a dime, staring directly into Sasuke's black eyes and trying not to overreact.

"Oh." She spoke, seeing as how it was just about the last thing she could reasonably get out of her lips. "That's… good."

"I'm just…" Sasuke sighed. "With everything going on… with the Akatsuki, and Haku, and Zabuza, and Kakashi, is… is this really the time?"

She could sort of see what the boy was getting at. Maybe this wasn't the time to be starting some newfangled relationship, getting lost in the do's and don't's of it. They could end up fracturing their squad, or getting themselves hurt, or a million other things.

A million other things that the voice at the back of Sakura's head just didn't really care about at the moment.

She reached out and took Sasuke's hand. It wasn't exactly the most romantic gesture in the world, but still, it was about all she could do unobtrusively.

"I think it's the time." Sakura spoke, pointedly avoiding eye contact with her teammate. "I mean, sure, maybe we manage to wrap all this stuff with the Akatsuki up within the next few months, and you defeat Itachi, and we save the world, and everything's hunky-dory, but… I don't know, do you see that happening, realistically?"

She couldn't see Sasuke, but she felt him squeeze down on her hand, just a little.

"No. Can't say I do."

They walked at a steady pace, though Sakura couldn't help but smile as their interlocked hands stayed put.

"Then… really, why not?" Sakura asked, finally risking a glance over at Sasuke, and seeing him looking pensive. "Worst comes to worst, it doesn't work out, and we move on with our lives."

Sasuke hummed, acknowledging her point.

"Oh, fine, you're right."

She snorted.

"Once more, you prove that you don't quite have the heart of a romantic."

Sasuke bristled slightly.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"After all that, all you say is 'Oh, fine'?"

Sasuke seemed to think about that for a moment.

"Well…"

"Once more, ladies and gentlemen, the reigning talking-to-people champion of the world-"

She was interrupted by a warm feeling on her forehead, and turned to see Sasuke pulling away from her, a heavy blush covering most of his face. It took her a second to even realize what'd happened, and when she finally did, she found herself growing more and more tomato-like in appearance.

_Sasuke… kissed my forehead!?_

"T-there!" The boy stammered out, stepping past her a bit sheepishly so she couldn't see his face. "H-how's that for romantic?"

She was, at that moment, completely caught off guard. She felt a bit like she had back during their training exercises in the academy, when she'd fainted from Sasuke telling her she did well in her fight with Ino.

She didn't quite faint this time, but the thought definitely crossed her mind. She rubbed the spot the boy's lips had made contact, and tried not to think about it.

Really tried not to think about–

_It was so warm, was that his first kiss, does that make me his first girlfriend, oh my god our kids are going to be so damned cute–_

_"CALM, SAKURA!" _Her inner self chided. _"Get a hold of yourself!"_

She laughed, a tiny, freeing feeling that filled her body with warmth. She skipped ahead, past Sasuke, and shouted for him to keep up.

He sighed, but did, jogging along behind her at a modest pace.

Perhaps this wasn't exactly how she'd have wanted it to go down, but… but this was what she'd always wanted when she was a kid. To be a strong ninja and settle down. To make friends and allies, and to have people she could rely on. Things had been crazy, absolutely insane, these past few months, but maybe… maybe things were trending up?

_Maybe… Maybe I can live a normal life after all?_

Her curse mark flared, as if directly answering her plea.

_"You, live a normal life?" _It seemed to say.

_"I'm afraid it's far too late for that."_

**End Chapter 57**

* * *

**Yo.**

**So yeah. That was a depressing ass chapter. It ended happy, though, so maybe you can forgive me?**

**Wanted to quickly address the Trigger Warning, because I know some people think they're dumb. I have no idea who's reading my story, beyond a username, so I have no idea what kinds or types of people are reading it, or will read it in the future. I want to make sure that anyone who reads, regardless of their comfortability level with these kinds of things, will be both able to know what happens in this chapter, and still be able to avoid encountering something that might hurt them in a more detailed and drawn out fashion.**

**My stories might occasionally hurt your feelings, but I hope it's never to such a degree that they'd actually harm you. ****Plus, it's not like a little summary of the chapter's going to hurt anyone. Just avoid it if you have no need. Or read it. I did still put effort into it, after all. **

**Alright, I'll step off my soap box, just wanted to get that out there.**

**Next chapter's a doozy, so look forward to it! See you all next week!**

* * *

**Chapter Summary:**

Team 7, The sound trio, and Haku attend a meeting in the Hokage's office. Haku, Sakura, and Naruto are promoted to Chuunin. Tsunade lets everyone know that Zabuza's funeral will be held the next day, and Naruto mentally asks, somewhat rhetorically, if this is what they were fighting for, because right now, all he feels is pathetic that he wasn't able to do more.

The day of the funeral arrives, and Haku is down. Maybe moreso than normal, even. Ino and her father arrive a bit late, but even that's not enough to cheer the now orphaned Haku up. He leaves the service as soon as it concludes.

Sakura and Ino walk and talk for a while, with the latter admitting to her best friend that she's horribly scared of being left behind, of not being needed, and she's not going to give up on Haku. Sakura asks her if getting into something like that is fair to her, but Ino ignores her, saying it doesn't particularly matter, since her happiness doesn't. The two make up afterwords, apologizing to each other, but it's shaky.

She goes to Haku's house, and finds him about to end his own life. She stops him, and tries to talk him out of it as best she can. When she sees that won't work, however, she does the only other thing she can think of, and tethers him to her with a kiss they share. She remarks, mentally, to Sakura, that she's not as saintlike as she might've seemed, since this is also a way she can be needed absolutely.

Meanwhile, at Ichiraku Ramen, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura are having a meal. Kakashi was supposed to show up, but he didn't for some reason. Naruto leaves, giving the two time to walk and talk. They do, and they decide to just go for it and start their relationship. Sakura wishes for a normal life, but she knows, deep down, that her life can't be that simple anymore.


	58. Chapter 58

**And so we've arrived, at the end (not really).**

**Without further ado...**

* * *

**Chapter 58: Enough, For Tonight at Least**

* * *

"And to all of you…"

The silver haired Jonin before them held up his glass, and Naruto smiled as he raised his own, leaning forward and clinking it against the other three glasses.

"Congratulations on becoming Chuunin!"

Naruto laughed, as did Sasuke and Sakura. Kakashi had invited them to a nearby barbecue place, and though Naruto definitely preferred ramen, he wasn't going to turn down good food. Their little impromptu party had come out of nowhere, but Kakashi had said he was feeling better, and had the time, so they'd decided to just go along with it.

It'd been about a week since Zabuza's funeral, and in that time, very few things had changed.

That wasn't to say change wasn't on the horizon, however.

"You've all graduated from my tutelage." The man smiled underneath his mask, and a somber note ran through all of them as he continued to speak. "That means you'll often be tasked with leading missions of your own, or working under the watchful eye of another Jonin on more high-leveled missions. Though, to be fair, they won't be harder than anything you three have already gone through."

They snickered slightly at that. They'd had their asses kicked to hell and back, but they'd come out alright in the end. Better, faster, and stronger for the challenge. Though Naruto would've been lying if he'd said he always appreciated the added difficulty, but…In the end, it'd been worth it. They'd become truly strong.

And they were only going to grow better.

He only wished there weren't a lingering guilt behind that. Zabuza had been the one to pay for it all, and Haku even more so, surviving beyond the one person who he valued above all others.

Still, at the very least, he seemed to have Ino. With the way Sakura looked at the two of them, Naruto couldn't help but think it wasn't the healthiest of things, but it seemed to be the only thing keeping the orphaned boy tethered, keeping him in the here and now.

His grip on revenge had been fragile, easily broken.

Compared with Sasuke, who he glanced at out of the corner of his eye, he could see how that might be. Haku was simply too kind. He had no real desire to hurt anyone. It seemed, almost, that the life of a ninja simply wasn't for him.

He sighed, looking over towards Kakashi and seeing the man look a bit hesitant, evidently wanting to speak something, but not quite managing to get it out. After a few more moments spent deliberating, he finally managed to open his mouth.

"I… won't be around to protect you guys anymore."

The words were solemn and brought about an intense melancholy in Naruto's heart that seemed to only grow larger as he gazed at his friends, similar expressions on their faces.

"That means you're going to have to look out for each other. I can't have your backs anymore, but I know for a fact that you'll have each other's." He spoke, and his single exposed eyebrow drove inwards, a depressing visage taking his previous hopeful looks place. "Don't let anything happen to each other, alright? Take care of your friends, your teammates… otherwise…"

Naruto couldn't help wanting to stand up and walk over to Kakashi, but something in the man's body language told him he didn't quite want a hug.

"Otherwise you'll end up like me." Kakashi smiled sadly. "All alone."

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all looked down, avoiding their teachers eye. A moment later, however, they heard a small laugh, and looked up to see Kakashi gazing at them intently.

"C'mon, you've got to get up and keep moving. None of the people who've left us would've wanted us to stall out and die. They'd want us to keep moving, right? Then that's just what we'll do."

Naruto couldn't help but feel like the man might've been talking to himself there, but decided not to comment.

He watched as Sakura nodded, but Sasuke stayed the same. He was, likely, thinking about his family, and Itachi, and a thousand other things that weighed him down. Naruto reached over and touched the boy's shoulder, giving him a small nod when he glanced over.

Sasuke nodded back.

"You should all think about what it is you want to be doing. How you want to get stronger, what new techniques you wish to learn. Who will you train with, what will they teach you?" Kakashi asked them. "Ask yourselves those questions and make an effort to understand yourselves."

They all nodded, before, without a terribly large amount of ceremony, Kakashi stood and walked towards the server, offering up a large enough pile of change to cover for all of them.

"Alright, you three. You can stay and keep eating, but keep in mind that I'm only paying for the remainder of those meats there." Kakashi pointed towards the five or so slabs still on the grill. "Anything else comes out of your own wallets."

"No worries, Sensei." Sakura smirked. "I'm heading out after this, I'm off to go see Ino, then Anko Sensei."

"I'm going to visit the Hokage." Sasuke followed up. "There's something I need to speak with her about."

Naruto looked at how the both of them acted around one another. Honestly, it wasn't that different, but it was certainly freer. It seemed like the clogged atmosphere that'd hung around the two of them since the Chuunin Exams had finally disappeared.

_Thank everything. _Naruto breathed out in relief. _I for one was seriously getting tired of them dancing around each other like children._

"Naruto, you visiting anyone?"

Sakura had asked the question innocently enough, but she still seemed to expect him to say yes. He honestly hadn't had any plans at the start of their meeting, like the other two had. Still, thanks to Kakashi's advice, he had gotten some ideas.

"I'm off to go and see Jiraiya!" He exclaimed, swiping the juiciest piece of beef off the skillet before the other two could so much as blink. "I'm gonna' learn some new killer Jutsu's and get so far ahead of the two of you, you won't even see my back!"

Sakura and Sasuke's eyes narrowed dangerously, and they seemed quite amused by his statement.

"Oh?"

"Get ahead of us, will you?"

Sakura smirked as she grabbed onto his collar, stopping him in his tracks as he tried to eat another slice of beef. Before he could shove the perfect morsel down his gullet, Sakura moved deftly with her own chopsticks, snatching it away and practically slurping the cut of meat down her throat.

"I'd like to see you try."

/-/

Sasuke made his way to the Hokage's office in no real hurry.

It was about an hour after he'd left the barbecue place, and the sun was now beginning it's descent in the sky. It was perhaps one or two in the afternoon, though he hadn't much cared to check.

He didn't have an appointment or anything, so he trudged on up the steps, knocked on Tsunade's door, and stepped inside at her call.

She looked moderately surprised to see him.

"Sasuke." She smiled at him, seemingly pleased to see a familiar face. "What brings you here today?"

He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, knowing the next thing he was planning on saying was going to sound a bit odd.

"Er… I want you to teach me Medical Ninjutsu."

A sneeze echoed out from behind him, and he turned to see Shizune stepping into the room, carrying a pile of papers.

"You, Sasuke?" She asked a bit surprisedly as she stepped by him, setting the papers down on Tsunade's desk and causing the woman to cringe slightly. "I never took you for the type to learn Medical Ninjutsu, especially not when Sakura already knows how to heal."

"That's true, yeah." He admitted. "But… I don't want her to bear that entire burden on her own."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow, silently asking him to continue speaking.

"It's not just that either. Sure, I don't want her to use her entire pool of chakra keeping us two idiots alive, but… back in the forest… Sakura and Naruto were completely out of chakra. It's not like I had any to spare, but… but if I had had the ability to heal, I might've been able to get Dosu back on his feet, let us move faster, and actually make it out of that forest without Zabuza…"

Tsunade nodded, perhaps not agreeing with him, but at least seeing where he was coming from.

"I don't see any real disadvantages to having two people who know Medical Ninjutsu either. The only thing it'd do is keep the both of us safe, and our chakra levels high. Even if we got split up, we'd be able to heal one another."

"And your revenge?"

The words stilled his resolve. Tsunade had, apparently, gotten to know him more than he'd thought, for as he looked into the woman's eyes, they were cold, calculating. They didn't know what to make of him yet, what to assume of him.

"I've made a decision." He answered as calmly as he could. He took a deep, steadying breath, trying to get back on track. "I'm going to protect my friends, _and _I'm going to kill Itachi. Those two things aren't mutually exclusive."

Tsunade studied him for a long while, taking in his decision and thinking calmly to herself. After another minute or so of that, she finally relented, smiling as she stood up from her desk, and walked around it to stand before him.

"You're greedy, Sasuke." Tsunade smirked. "Thinking you can defeat someone of prodigious talent, and keep all your friends safe at the same time… I might call it foolish coming from anyone else…"

Tsunade leaned down, face to face with him as her dress gave him a rather provocative view of her cleavage. He turned his face to the side, not wanting to stare.

"From you, though… I think I believe it."

The words caused him to blush, and he couldn't help but want to thank the woman for them, but before he could, the door at the back of the room opened once more, and another new figure stepped in.

"Oh… Sasuke?" Kakashi asked, stepping up to Tsunade's desk with a piece of paper in hand. "I was just here to drop off your paperwork."

"Paperwork?" Sasuke asked, confused.

"For becoming Chuunin. Technically, now that you've gone up a rank, you don't ever have to work with me again." He spread the papers, and revealed that there were three sheets. "I was sort of supposed to drop yours off a few weeks ago, but a million things came up, so I put it off, and, well, then you got kidnapped."

Kakashi shrugged in a 'what can you do?' kind of way, and Sasuke had to admit that irked him slightly.

"Sasuke here wanted to learn medical ninjutsu." Shizune spoke up from her place beside Tsunade's desk, where she pointed to a spot on the sheet sitting in front of the now seated Hokage, who seemed to be zoning out. "To keep his friends safe."

Kakashi looked over at him with an easy smile, nodding his head.

"Sounds like him. Can't say I expected it… but, can't say I'm surprised either."

"Actually, Kakashi." Sasuke spoke up now, waiting for the man to turn around to continue. "There's something I need to ask of you as well…"

Kakashi looked a bit unsure of just what that would be.

"I want you to continue teaching me too." Sasuke pleaded, bowing his head. "I want to learn Medical Ninjutsu, sure, but I still want to be strong enough to face my brother. I'm not giving up on either of my dreams, and… you can call me greedy for that, but I refuse to compromise."

Kakashi's single exposed eye widened. A moment later, however, he took a step forward, and lightly placed his hand upon Sasuke's shoulder.

"You really are greedy as hell, aren't you?"

A small, embarrased blush appeared on his face, but it was banished a second later as Kakashi laughed.

"Alright. I'll entertain that greed. It's about time you started showing it."

He looked up from his bow, curious as to what the man meant. On Kakashi's face was what looked to be an amused smile, though it was hid beneath his mask.

"About… time?"

"You've always been so annoyingly realistic." Kakashi offered. "You thought you couldn't beat Itachi and live a good life at the same time, so you never tried. Then, once you got friends, you seemed to assume you couldn't have friends and beat Itachi at the same time, so you, silently, without really meaning to, started letting yourself forget about Itachi. You never really considered doing both until just a while ago, did you?"

Sasuke blanked. He'd never even realized half of the things the man had said, which was even more annoying, since Kakashi was right about almost all of it. He'd still thought about Itachi when he'd been content with his life with his friends, but…

It'd been in a theoretical way. 'I have to kill Itachi' had been about all he'd mentioned from him. He'd been… dealing with his feelings for the man, discarding them gradually. Hell, if he'd have been given a few more years, he might've let go of him enough to live a normal life.

But now, he was caught between two extremes, and yet, he wasn't willing to abandon either. He would live a normal life with Naruto, and Sakura, and everyone else by his side, and he would kill Itachi as well.

There was no room for doubt.

"So… you'll both train me?"

"Don't see why not." Tsunade guffawed as she leaned back in her chair, before Shizune pushed her back forward, aggressively pointing to the same line on the same sheet they'd been working on previously. "Er… well, we can start tomorrow!"

"Two days from now." Shizune spoke, pointing to the, frankly, asinine pile of papers stacked next to them. "You can start two days from now."

"R-right, yeah."

He turned to Kakashi.

"I'm ready today, if you want to start now." The man smiled, but there was a certain darkness lingering behind his expression that seemed to say something else was going on as well. Sasuke had a guess.

"There's something I need to be training for as well."

/-/

"So, Sasuke."

He hummed back towards Kakashi, letting that serve as an answer.

"Is there anything else you'd like to be learning as well? Personally, I think you've got a good enough build to use just about anything."

He thought for a moment, before a tiny, almost absent thought occurred to him.

"Well, I've always had an interest in swordplay."

"Kenjutsu? I suppose that's not terribly surprising. Any particular reason why?"

Sasuke honestly wasn't sure. Well, that was a lie. He had a decent idea as to why, it just… wasn't the greatest reason to base an entire style around. But, he'd been trying to be more honest with himself lately, and with those around him, so he swallowed his pride, and decided to just say it straight out.

"When I was younger… a few of the other Uchiha's around the estate used them in shows. Small carnivals for kids, you know what I'm talking about, right?"

"Yeah, I get you."

"Well, I was fascinated by them. It just seemed… cool. I don't know how else to phrase it."

"Heh." Kakashi laughed, and Sasuke was just about to get mad and say something mean when the man patted him on the shoulder supportively, dismissing his concerns. "Let me call up some people I know, then. I'm sure they can help."

It was about thirty minutes of throwing shuriken at trees, maintaining and improving on his technique, before the two figures Kakashi had called in showed up. One was an Anbu, as was obvious from the mask upon their face, but the other Sasuke was surprised to find he actually recognized.

"Hayate, Yugao," Kakashi greeted the two of them. "Thanks for coming by."

"Well," The masked Anbu spoke up, stepping forward and briefly inspecting Sasuke's form. "I owed you a favor, I couldn't exactly turn you down. Hayate followed because he felt like it."

The tired looking Jonin gave an easy smile.

"Still, this is the one, right?" Yugao, apparently, got directly in his face, her mask and his nose only around an inch apart. "Eh, he's got decent eyes. You're the Uchiha, right?"

"Yes?"

"Hmm…" Yugao rubbed the bottom of her chin, seemingly deliberating. "Alright. He's good enough. I don't exactly have all the time in the world to train a random Genin, but I can get him started, at least."

She raised her mask, taking it off and placing it upon her hip. She pulled out a small scroll from her vest and unfurled it as she placed it on the ground. On the inside were a few seals.

_'Steel', 'Silver', 'Diamond', … Are these… types of swords?_

A moment later, Yugao seemed to find what she was looking for, for she slammed her hand down upon the 'wood' seal, and a blast of white smoke fired off. She pulled two training swords from out of the white mist, and chucked one of them to Sasuke, which he caught with a bit of concentration.

"Right. You're not a total beginner with a sword since you've been using Kunai your entire life. You'll find the basic application is somewhat similar, you're still cutting, slashing, and stabbing. At the same time, the ways you use them are completely different."

He nodded, understanding that. Even the difference between how you wielded a Kunai and a standard knife were different, he saw no reason to assume any differently about a wildly different tool.

"We'll go a couple of rounds; see how well you keep up. After that, we'll switch off, and Hayate can work on the more basic things he saw you were doing wrong, then again vice-versa. We'll switch off from practical work to more form-based learning every so often. Work for you?"

Sasuke nodded, a bit overwhelmed, but more than willing to stick it out.

"I… I was thinking we could come up with some ways of working the Chidori into my new style as well." Sasuke turned to Kakashi, confident in his idea. "It's a fairly one-note Jutsu at the moment, but I think with some creativity, we can transform it into a real monster."

Kakashi nodded, agreeing with him. He'd had some ideas about transferring the lightning from Chidori into his kunai, a feat he'd yet to pull off. Still, he had another idea, one he'd been rolling around in his head for a few weeks. If he could channel it into a larger blade… Just what would happen?

Now, at least, he could try putting that idea into practice.

"Don't forget, Sasuke." And for just a moment, a flash of something terrible came and went on Kakashi's face. It was… guilt, sure, but also…

Something Sasuke couldn't quite identify, even if he was fairly sure of the source by now.

"The Chidori is a tool to protect ones friends."

He nodded, trying to show the man with his expression that he'd never point it at one of his own.

This was all for the sake of defeating Itachi, of having enough tools that when he arrived at the man's alter, when he looked up at his brother standing calmly before him, he would finally have the strength to strike the bastard down.

"Alright, if you two are done, we'll move on three." Yugao took a rather simple stance, which he imagined was largely for his sake. "Three…"

He flipped the sword in his hand once, then twice. He got a good feel for it's overall weight and balance and held it up in front of him. It wasn't perfect, but it'd have to do.

"Two…"

He took a deep breath and prepared for an incoming strike.

"One."

_Don't worry your little heart, Itachi._

Yugao blinked forwards.

_I'm coming!_

/-/

"So… Wood Style?"

"Mhm… Wood Style."

Sakura paused for a moment.

"Uhm… what exactly does that mean?"

"Oh," Anko blinked. "Right."

"It means," Tenzo spoke from just beside both Sakura and Anko, who'd been conversing a bit meaninglessly. "That we're going to be focusing in on that as your primary method of training. Sure, it's all well and good that you've advanced your curse mark-"

"Pretty sure it's neither well nor good-"

"But that doesn't mean you can rely on it in a pinch." Tenzo finished, seemingly ignoring her. "The Wood Style needs to become an extension of yourself. You need to be able to summon branches, call forests, channel nature's power into your every move."

Sakura turned towards Anko, her eyes narrowed.

"Is he slightly more hyped up today," Sakura whispered. "Or am I crazy?"

"No, you're definitely not crazy."

They were standing in a fairly normal looking clearing. It didn't seem to have anything of note around, but Tenzo seemed determined to change that. He placed his hands on the ground, and focused hard.

After but a moment, a massive cliff of earth shot from out of the ground. It jutted a good forty or fifty feet out of the earth, before he ran up the surface, ending up at the top. In his next few motions, he summoned a gushing waterfall, which flowed down the surface. He slid down the wall of earth slightly, until he stuck about halfway down the cliff. After a few more moments of concentration, the man slammed his hands into the wall, and out from it grew trees. They were normally sized, a bit bigger than Tenzo, and they flowed out from the vertical earth so effortlessly that Sakura couldn't help getting a bit jealous.

"Why is he doing that?" Sakura felt like asking.

"Not a clue." Anko replied honestly.

Tenzo slid down the falls surface, jumping down at the bottom and landing a few feet from them. He walked the rest of the distance, coming over to them and smiling confidently.

"We're going to train your earth and water ability's," The man spoke, pointing back towards the newly constructed wonder behind him. "Until you can do that."

Sakura's mouth hung open.

"You… want me to do that?"

"Yes."

"…How?"

"Training." The man admitted. "A lot of it."

_Shit, is this how I sounded when I talked with Ino the other day? _Sakura couldn't help wondering. _I should apologize for that._

"Fine, fine." Sakura sighed out, deciding to say sorry to her best friend the next time she saw her. "What will I be doing?"

"First off, you're going to be focusing heavily on getting your earth and water styles to work on command. You had some trouble with those during your testing back in Root."

She bit back a groan as the man brought up that particular batch of failures.

"You were, eventually, able to translate your abilities to healing, but that was a spur of the moment type deal, was it not?"

"Well, I could recreate it, but… Yeah, It wasn't nearly as powerful when I wasn't working off adrenaline."

"In that case, we'll be buffing up every part of you." The man took her arm in one hand, holding it up and looking a bit disappointedly at the flab present there. "Starting with your rather lacking muscle mass. You'll need it if you're going to be doing more advanced acrobatics and maneuvers anyways."

She tried not to let the man's comments get to her, which was, as one might've expected, quite difficult.

"OK, sure, that's all well and good," Sakura decided to simply change the subject, hoping that might keep her from lashing out. "But why is Anko here then? Just for moral support? 'Cause if it is just for moral support, I'm cool with that."

"Well, I have a small gap between the two missions I'm on, so I thought I'd drop by." The woman explained. "Technically, I'm not supposed to be here."

"So moral support then?"

"Basically." Anko admitted. "Well, not in the future. I'm going to try and help you learn more about your curse mark, and I want to learn more about mine as well. It's festering… growing in power. What's worse, Orochimaru's dead, so we're not getting any answers out of our gracious supplier."

Sakura nodded, feeling no sorrow, but no real joy either over the death of the Snake Sannin.

"We've only got each other to be figuring this out." Despite the statement, Anko smirked. "Which means, unfortunately for me, I'm stuck with you once again."

"Oh yes," Sakura rolled her eyes as she looked back at her teacher. "I'm sure you're so broken up about it. Getting to be with the one you fell in love with must be such a shame."

Tenzo's eyes bugged out.

"Wait, wha-"

"I am… _humbly asking_," Anko walked up to her, placing both hands on her shoulders and looking, frankly, infuriated with her. "That you let that go!"

"Heh." Sakura sneered.

"No promises."

/-/

Sakura yawned as she stretched out her aching limbs, doing her best not to focus on the pain lingering within them as she made her way back to her house. She was going to have dinner with her Mother and Father, which would be nice, since the last time they'd had the chance was over a month ago.

Naturally, something had to interrupt her. Though, to be fair, she didn't terribly mind this one.

"Sakura?"

She turned, looking towards where Zaku was jogging towards her briskly. He caught up without much fuss and smiled at her.

"Nice to see you."

"Same here." Sakura told a half-lie. She didn't mind seeing Zaku, but… she was tired as all hell, and just really wanted to not have to interact with anyone right then. "What're you up to?"

"Nothing particularly." Zaku gave a hum of amusement. "Just sort of… idling, I guess. Dosu's getting out of the hospital tomorrow, so we're all going to see him."

She smiled at that, at least. There'd been a stretch back during their escape when Sakura had been sure Dosu wasn't going to make it. He'd been bleeding heavily in the middle of the forest. If a good few medical ninja's hadn't shown up, alongside Tsunade herself, Sakura was fairly sure the boy wouldn't…

_Well, no use thinking about that now._

"…Oh, wait." Zaku seemed to realize something. "Am I interrupting something?"

Sakura smirked, breathing out a laugh as it came out as hot air from her nostrils.

"No, you're not interrupting. I'm on my way back to my house. I'm having dinner with my mom and dad tonight."

"Oh, shit, sorry!" Zaku stepped away from her, taking a light bow. "I didn't mean to-"

"Again, you're fine." Sakura gave an amused smile. "What's up, you're not usually this…"

"Jumpy?" Zaku asked embarrassedly. "Yeah, there's… there's a reason for that."

_Oh? _Sakura couldn't help but be curious. _Why…?_

"Uhm… if you'll give me another minute here, I don't mean to keep you, but…"

A kernel of an idea popped up in the back of her mind, one that she'd been considering for a good few weeks, but hadn't really taken the time to mull over.

_Zaku… does he…_

"A few days from now… Saturday…" Zaku took a deep breath, and exhaled as he stepped forward, forcing confidence into his expression. "Would you let me take you out to the barbecue place we went to before?"

_…Oh._

_Ooooooooh…_

_I was right._

It took her a moment to realize she'd simply been staring at him for the past five seconds, which she couldn't help but think would've been quite painful. It wasn't fair for her to even be considering his offer, not with what she'd decided a week or so ago. Neither she nor Sasuke had told anyone, besides Naruto, anything.

She took a deep breath, and resolved to come at Zaku with honesty.

"I'm very sorry." She bowed, using the motion as an excuse to not have to see the boy's expression. "But I can't accept. I'm already…"

Even still, she didn't manage to get the words out. It was weirdly embarrassing, having to turn down someone who'd bared their heart. She forced herself, however, to look up. She forced herself to meet Zaku's eyes, to see the sad expression within them that he tried to disguise, and she forced herself to speak.

"I'm sorry." She made direct eye-contact. "I'm already in a relationship with someone else." She left the 'who' of that equation a mystery, though she couldn't help but think it wouldn't be particularly hard to solve. "I can't accept your invitation."

Zaku looked just a tad bit sadder, before, after another moment, he breathed out a sorrowful groan. He looked back up a second later with a small smile on his face, barely a hint that he'd been a bit depressed a moment ago.

"Sasuke's a lucky man."

She blushed slightly.

"Agh! I knew I should've asked when we got back!" Zaku cursed to himself. "I mean, you still might've said no, but at least I'd have had a chance." The man ruffled his own hair, trying to get his head in the game. "Right, well. I'm going to, uhm, go! So you… you have a good night, alright, Sakura?"

She frowned, feeling a bit of tension between them that she didn't want to go unresolved. She supposed it would heal itself, given a week or two to cool off and process this conversation. Still, she didn't want that.

"Zaku?"

The boy turned back towards her, pushing some hair out of his face as he shot her a questioning look.

"If you'd like, our teams could still go out this Saturday?" She wasn't sure how perfect of an idea it would be, and, if she were being honest, she was grasping at straws. Still, she felt she had to try. "I know we're all itching for a break, and Dosu will be out by then, right?"

Zaku's eyebrows raised, and he seemed to consider that for a moment. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity (and was probably only three or four seconds), the boy smiled. It wasn't quite an easy smile, and, if anything, it looked a bit forced. Still, some of the tension hanging between them dissolved.

"Sheesh, you're brutal." Zaku commented quietly. "Here I am, shooting my shot, missing, and you still wanna' drag me out?"

"Er, I wasn't trying to-"

"We'll be there."

She blinked.

Zaku turned to her, rubbing the back of his neck in a show of sheepishness she was fairly sure she'd not seen from the hot-headed ninja before her.

"We'll come." He sighed out, rubbing his temples with one hand. "Still, c'mon Sakura, when did you suddenly get so endlessly pushy?"

She snorted.

"Personally, I'd blame my teacher."

"Ah, Anko?" He considered that for a moment. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense. She seems the type to rub off on someone else."

Sakura giggled, before looking to the horizon, and seeing the sun beginning to set.

"Oh, crap!" She shouted, turning back towards Zaku, and clapped her hands together in a sign of apology. "Sorry to cut this short, but if I'm not back before sundown, my mother's going to kill me!"

"Understood, understood." Zaku waved as he turned around, walking off. "Stay cool, Sakura."

She laughed.

"Stay cool, really?"

Zaku turned back around, but she couldn't quite see anything more than his eyes past his shoulder. Still, he looked mildly perturbed from what she could see of his expression.

"Don't judge me! My words aren't at their best right now."

"Yeah, I can tell."

"Leave me alone!"

/-/

"Frog Guy!"

Jiraiya turned towards him with a look of pure, unadulterated fury upon his face. He wasn't quite sure what he'd done to earn such ire, other than use the man's old nickname.

_Eh, probably nothing._

"One day, you will understand that they're toads, but I suppose such an advanced thought couldn't worm its way into your head, could it?"

"Eh, shush." He cut the man off, and though Jiraiya's left eye twitched, the man did as he asked. "I come on an important mission!"

"Oh? I'm sure."

"I need you to teach me that Senjutsu stuff!"

This time, Jiraiya's grouchy mood faded away, replaced instead by a curious interest.

"Why would you want to learn that? Didn't I tell you it's one of the hardest types of Jutsu in the world to use? Even I'm a novice with it."

"Well, yeah, sure, but…" Naruto sighed. "So… last mission, I… It was my fault that Zabuza had to die."

His master straightened slightly, looking at Naruto a bit differently, as if seeing him in a new light.

"Why do you figure that?"

"I just… When I was back in Orochimaru's base, I… I needed saving from just about everything we ran into." He hung his head. "Anko snatched me from out of a flaming trap, then I was saved by Zabuza and Haku from that weird Pain guy."

He noticed, idly, that Jiraiya's body stiffened slightly at the mention. It wasn't too surprising, given that Pain, or Yahiko, as Jiraiya had called him, was his master's old disciple. Whatever had happened between them… clearly it wasn't something he felt like discussing. For the old man's sake, and for his own, he continued speaking.

"Then, once more, Sasuke rescued me from his weird pulling thing, and then Haku saved me twice from Tobi grabbing me. Then… Zabuza and Haku both saved me when he pulled me to the forest floor." He felt a bit of depressed energy work its way into his heart. "I… if I hadn't been so weak, Zabuza wouldn't have had to…"

"Kid, I need you to understand something, first and foremost."

He looked up at Jiraiya without much energy but saw a fiery expression on the man's face. Apparently, he had more than a few problems with what Naruto had said.

"You _are _strong. The problem, really, is that you keep going up against enemies so far out of your own weight class that it's practically a crime. Even still, Naruto, do you know what I would've done against six members of the Akatsuki if they had me cornered?"

He couldn't think of anything.

"What?"

"I'd have died."

Naruto's eyes shot open, and he looked up to see an expression of frank truth on Jiraiya's face. The man's statement was no lie, nor was he exaggerating.

"Against that many S-ranked ninja… against that many ninja easily as strong as I am? I wouldn't have stood a chance. Hell, in a life or death battle, I might not be able to take one of them. Depends on the person, really, but I don't think I'd want to face Pain, and especially not Itachi. Kid's practically a force of nature, I don't envy your friend for his choice of target." Jiraiya turned towards him, looking up at him with a deathly serious expression. "Now Naruto, I want you to answer a question for me, if **_I _**couldn't beat them, then what makes you think that **_you_**, with some newfangled technique and a bit of brawn behind it, would've stood a ghost of a chance?"

He opened his mouth, tried to make a sound, and found it closing without him really meaning to.

"I…"

"You didn't have a chance. Sure. But neither did any of you there. Honestly, and this is going to sound messed up," Jiraiya sighed as he looked him in the eye. "You were lucky only Zabuza was killed. After hearing that the Akatsuki were after you… there was a part of me that thought the only way your group was getting back to the leaf was in a body bag."

That scared him more than he liked to admit. He hadn't even considered how endlessly lucky they'd been, how reserved the Akatsuki had been. They hadn't been in any hurry, hadn't wanted to overexert themselves and put themselves in harm's way. Still, it had been that very reservation that had kept them alive.

If the Akatsuki had gone all out from the start…

He wouldn't be here to whine.

"Even still." He took a deep, steadying breath, forcing himself to expel at least _some _of his doubts, even if, despite his best wishes, an awful lot of them remained. "I don't… I don't want to idle in place. I know that I'm going to end up fighting them again. Whether it's because they come for me in the dead of night, or because Sasuke heads to seek out Itachi, and I'm right there beside him… I'll have to face them."

He reaffirmed himself and stood up. Even while sitting down, Jiraiya's head still stood a few inches above his own.

"I need to be as strong as I possibly can, and that means learning everything I can from you!"

Jiraiya hummed as he took Naruto in, seemingly sizing him up. After a few moments of that, accompanied by a groan so filled with exhaustion that Naruto didn't even want to ask, Jiraiya decided to ask him one last question.

"And you're sure about Senjutsu?" He repeated his earlier question. "I wasn't kidding when I said if you mess up while training, it turns you to stone. It's not exactly a technique for the faint of heart."

He shook his head.

"Even if it wasn't…" Naruto felt his soul grow steady, his conviction emboldened. "Someone who's afraid of risking himself to gain power, someone who needs to be protected by his friends sacrifices and shielded away from their battles… how could someone like that ever become Hokage!?"

Something in Jiraiya's gaze shifted, as if the lingering doubts he'd held for Naruto had, in that moment, almost entirely disappeared. Left in their wake was a certain pride, one he wasn't quite sure the source of.

"Huh." Jiraiya actually smiled, but it was oddly tender, like he would've expected from a grandfather, rather than a mentor. "You never cease to surprise me, Naruto."

He tilted his head.

"Is that… good?"

"In this case?" Jiraiya smirked amusedly.

"Yeah."

/-/

Naruto ran off ahead, and Jiraiya was, however briefly, left alone in the small clearing they'd been sitting in. It was the same spot they'd trained before, the very same waterfall the boy had sat under until he'd caught a cold just off to his left, and the very same valley he'd nearly chucked the boy into to learn to summon just a few hundred yards away.

He stood slowly, letting some of the fatigue in his old body be washed away by his excitement. Naruto's words… they'd been, for perhaps the first time since he'd met him, exactly what he'd needed to hear.

_He's strong enough. _Jiraiya knew. _Not to learn Senjutsu **now, **but… after some training, he'll be perfect for it._

He found a laugh bubbling up in his throat and expelled it. Surprisingly enough, seeing the boy so doubtful of himself had been a real eye-opener for Jiraiya. He had, up until then, seen Naruto as a bit too spirited, a bit too energetic. Now, though, he knew those doubts lurked underneath his sunny veneer, knew that it wasn't quite fake…

But forced.

He walked behind Naruto, calling back when the boy shouted for him to hurry up.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Jiraiya found himself laughing once more. "Sheesh. Kids these days."

He looked up at the stone monument in the distance, towards the face of the man he'd once trained, to the face of the man he'd once known would surpass him. Even in his brief tenure upon the earth, he'd been able to do so in practically no time at all.

"Hah… Did you see him just now?" Jiraiya asked the petrified visage, and, as he'd known he would, received no response. "Having the nerve to sound so cool, I thought that was my job."

"I suppose he really is your kid, Minato."

/-/

"So… you said you'd teach me Senjutsu."

"No, I really didn't, but sure, continue this line of thought."

"So… why are we at some weird place I've never been to before?"

They stood in front of a massive mansion. To Naruto, it seemed almost excessively fancy, like something out of a storybook. Still, someone had to live here, and he had a feeling it was probably a wealthier clan. He'd been to Kiba's family's land before, so he knew this wasn't the Inuzuka's…

"This is the Hyuga Estate." Jiraiya spoke simply, walking up and ringing a small bell by the entrance. "They're all a bit snobbish, but you get used to it."

"Uhm… I have a few friends who're Hyuga's." He felt the need to defend Hinata's honor, though, to be honest, not quite as much Neji's. He'd heard the boy had been improving since his draw to Lee, but still, they weren't exactly friends. "They, well, one of them isn't rude or anything. She's really nice."

"Little-Miss-Disinherited? Yeah, I met her once when I was visiting Kurenai." Jiraiya smirked. "Nice girl, if not a little… too nice. The type of nice that doesn't arise out of kindness, but out of fear."

Naruto nodded, agreeing, as sad as it made him.

"Still, I can't believe sweet little Kurenai and Asuma are… Gah!" Jiraiya hung his head in his hands. "I should've just asked her out ages ago!"

"Uhm…" Naruto couldn't help a bit of disgust worming its way into his voice. "Aren't you double her age?"

"Not important."

Naruto simply sighed.

The gate in front of them opened up, and a person who Naruto could only assume was an attendant stepped out of the estate. He was rather blandly dressed, whites and grays making up the majority of his uniform.

"Excuse us." Jiraiya, for once, seemed to be acting respectful. "I wish to ask a favor of the Master."

"Ah, Master Jiraiya!" Apparently, the Toad Sage was a known quantity around here, for the attendant before them bowed, accepting him inside. "You may, of course, enter."

Naruto raised an eyebrow as they stepped inside the outer wall, passing into the inner compound.

"Why didn't he like… check you or anything?" Naruto couldn't help wanting to ask. "Couldn't you have been some random dude pretending to be Jiraiya?"

Jiraiya laughed at him, and he took that a bit personally, since he was pretty sure his question was valid.

"Kid, there've been chakra sensors going back for miles. They've been reading our energies for quite a while." He looked over and raised an eyebrow. "They knew who we were long before we actually stepped onto the premises. All that back there was meaningless fluff. If they weren't going to let us in, then they would've stopped us by then."

Naruto nodded slowly, still wrapping his head around that little concept by the time they made it to the central hall. Jiraiya bowed to the two men standing guard, and he followed suit, not wanting to seem disrespectful.

The guards allowed them inside without any real delay, and suddenly, he was face-to-face with Hiashi Hyuga, Hinata's father, and a man he knew nothing about. All he had were Hinata's desperate words from when he'd spoken to her just before the Chuunin Exams.

_"But… but all I want is… is for my father to… to talk to me again. __Why won't he look at me anymore…"_

"Master Hyuga." Jiraiya bowed for yet another time. "Thank you for taking the time to speak with us today."

"Nonsense." The first words out of Hiashi's mouth didn't quite give Naruto the worst impression. In fact, he sounded almost jovial, though whether or not he was putting that front on as an act… Naruto couldn't be sure. "You've done our family plenty of services in the past. A favor from you is no problem at all."

"You helped the Hyuga?" Naruto asked without really meaning to, before realizing he had spoken out of turn. Normally, he wouldn't have really cared, but he wasn't even sure why he was here, so he resigned himself to make due. "Er, my apologies, I-"

"And who is this, Jiraiya?"

Hiashi's voice broke into his own, cutting him off without a care in the world.

"This is Naruto Uzumaki." Jiraiya explained. "You may know of him, he's-"

"I do know of him." Hiashi seemed to consider something for a moment, before, a moment later, a small, wry smile appeared upon his face. "You're the boy who helped Hinata, correct?"

Now that surprised him. The last time he'd spoken with the former Hyuga heiress, she'd made it sound like her relationship with her father had been irrecoverable. From the man's expression of fondness, however…

_Did… something happen? _Naruto couldn't help but wonder hopefully. _It'd be great if Hinata managed to make up with her father, but… why would that have happened? Even beyond that, how?_

He realized a moment later that he'd been silent just a bit too long, and cut himself out of his reverie.

"Uhm, I am, sir."

Hiashi hummed, before continuing.

"On the earlier subject, Master Jiraiya is one of the foremost _ninja_ in the Leaf Village." Hiashi explained, though Naruto didn't really need the advice. "It is only natural that we, one of the foremost _clans _of the Leaf Village, would request the man's help on missions and the like."

"I've done them more than a few favors over the years, and now I'm here to collect on one." Jiraiya shrugged. "Simple, really."

Naruto's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"You're using one of your favors with an esteemed ninja clan… on me?"

Jiraiya seemed to hesitate for a moment.

"Well, yeah."

"Why?" He couldn't help but ask. "I mean, that kind of seems like the type of thing you'd save for like… a life-threatening situation, not training some random kid that got forced on you."

"Random?" Hiashi looked towards Jiraiya questioningly. "You never told him?"

Now **that **had Naruto's attention. He turned towards the elder Hyuga with a hungry look, trying to gather any hints of the past he could from the man's face. Unfortunately, there was nothing to be gleamed, Hiashi was a master ninja, and thus, a master at making his emotions unreadable.

"It doesn't matter." Jiraiya sighed out. "I'll tell him one of these days."

"Tell me what!?" Naruto pleaded. "C'mon, I deserve to know… whatever this is, don't I!?"

"Getting back on topic," Jiraiya cut him off completely purposefully. "I'd like to ask your clan to help train Naruto. If he's going to master Senjutsu, he needs to buff up his fundamentals first."

Now that was news to him. He looked back and forth between the two elders, his head practically on a swivel as he tried to decipher just what the hell was going on!

"Your favor works out perfectly, then." Hiashi looked towards Naruto and gave him a once over. "He may train with the others."

"Others?" Naruto couldn't help asking. "What others?"

/-/

Even though Jiraiya stayed in the main hall, wanting to speak with Hiashi more on more 'important' matters, he still managed to find his way to his destination easily enough.

He stepped into a simple training room. It wasn't much, a worn tatami floor set-up so that they didn't injure themselves when they fell. Clearly, the mat had seen more than its fair share of battles. Still, it was the people at the center of the room who really caught Naruto's attention.

"Wait, Lee, Neji, Tenten?"

All three turned towards him, including Lee, who'd been in the middle of a complicated jump-kick maneuver he'd probably needed to be focusing on. lacking that focus, his momentum sent him spiraling through a nearby doorway, and Naruto winced as he heard a thunderous crash somewhere outside the room.

_I'll have to apologize for that one later._

"Naruto?" It was Tenten who spoke up first, stepping over and holding her hand out, completely ignoring her teammate who was, presumably, sprawled out on the ground outside. "Good to see you!"

He found himself happy to see her as well, and so met her hand with his own, shaking it lightly.

"Same here."

He nodded towards Neji, who calmly nodded back. Despite what he'd heard, he still wasn't quite sure about the boy yet.

"Naruto!" An excited voice shouted from outside. "It's very nice seeing you!"

He walked over towards the door, and almost laughed when he saw that Lee had somehow gotten his leg embedded into the ground. He seemed rather stuck.

"Ur… if you wouldn't mind assisting me, that'd be-"

He pulled from underneath the boy's arms, straining slightly as they worked collectively to dislodge the spandex-wearing trainee. Finally, after a good minute, he managed to free Lee from his earthen prison.

"Much appreciated, Naruto!"

"Eh, no problem."

He turned back to the rest of the group as Lee joined them.

"So… what are you guys doing here?" Naruto couldn't help asking.

"Well, I was invited." Neji spoke up, sounding amused. "A certain princess though it would be fun to have company, and the rest of our teams were invited along as well."

"Wait, Hinata invited you?" To Naruto, that seemed… good, but incorrect. "I thought she wasn't welcome at the main estate?"

"She wasn't, not until she and her father had a… confrontation." Neji explained. "A few weeks back now, after the Chuunin Exams, and just after you and Sasuke left the village, Hinata came barging in, practically demanding to speak with her father." Neji actually laughed. "It was so unlike her; everyone just cleared the way."

Naruto's eyes widened.

_Hinata… **demanded **something?_

"Anyways, she and her father had this… world-shaking argument. I wasn't there at the time, I was… well, trying to make things up with my team. From what I hear, though, she fought with him, even when she would've normally cowered and hid away." Neji looked to him, this time, and an honest smile came to rest upon his face. "She credited said confidence boost to you, actually. Said you talked to her before the Chuunin Exams and helped her get some faith in herself back by fighting you."

He found a blush come to his face without really thinking about it, and Tenten elbowed him continuously in the ribs to tease him about it.

"Anyways, her father wouldn't reinstate her as heiress, since she still lost to Hanabi, and I don't think she really wanted that, either. Still, he told her she could come back to the Hyuga mansion."

_…I'm proud of her._

"Anyways, she's stopping by with her team in…" Neji gazed up at a clock, which hung on the wall at the farthest end of the room. "Actually, she should be here any second."

Just as the boy had spoken those words, he caught a small commotion on the edge of his hearing. It seemed to be…

Kiba, Shino, and Hinata stepped into the space. They were escorted in by Kurenai as well, who Naruto couldn't help but notice didn't seem thrilled to be there. He couldn't exactly blame her, either. From what he'd heard, they'd essentially been barred entry up until Hinata's outburst.

Which were two words that, put together, still sounded so freaking weird to Naruto. He was sure he'd get over it eventually, but…

"Naruto?"

He turned towards the mousy voice, and smiled as Hinata approached him, not quite meeting his eyes.

"Hey, Hinata!" He couldn't quite hold back some of the excitement he felt. "Uhm… how've you been?"

"I've been good!" Hinata seemed to barely holding back her own cheer as well. "I… I stood up to my father. I told him… everything I told you, honestly. After that… he accepted me back into the clan, even when the elders told him not to!"

He tried really hard not to look like a goober, but unfortunately, he found himself smiling from ear to ear, which meant he probably looked incredibly goobery.

"That's amazing!"

"I… I know!"

"Alright, alright." Kiba cut into their little talk, a blank expression on his face. "Fluff each other up later, we're here to train."

He tried to ignore the images conjured into his brain by the phrase 'Fluff each other up', but unfortunately, he was a thirteen-year-old boy going through puberty, he couldn't quite help himself.

The blush that blazed across Hinata's face did nothing to help him either.

"Right, well, if you're all good, I'll be heading out." Kurenai spoke, kneeling down and offering her hand out to Hinata, who took it in both of her own. "If you need any help, anything at all, you can call me, OK?"

Hinata nodded earnestly, which scored a smile on her teacher's face.

"Alright." A bit of light seemed to shine in the older woman's eye. "Hah, you look so different nowadays."

Hinata blushed something fierce, looking down at the floor and avoiding eye-contact. Kurenai snuck a peak at him in the interim, and shot him a knowing smirk.

'Thank you' She mouthed silently.

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as the woman made her exit, waving goodbye as she closed the training room door behind her.

Now, the seven of them were left alone, sort of wondering what it was they'd be doing.

Luckily, they weren't left waiting long. The door to the training room swung open no more than five minutes later, and in stepped a few figures Naruto didn't recognize, an assortment of Hyuga, he assumed, and two he did.

Jiraiya, and Hiashi.

"Yo!" Jiraiya called to all of them. "So, the only one who doesn't know why he's here today is Naruto, so I'll finally explain myself."

"Honestly, when you said you wanted to learn Senjutsu, I thought you were a bit dumb, but you've got conviction, and you've got heart, so I figure you might be able to do it. Still, before you can even attempt half of that stuff, you've gotta learn the basics. Chakra control, Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, and the likes. You've gotta' become a stronger ninja before you can learn stronger techniques, capeesh?"

He nodded, even if it wasn't really what he wanted to hear.

"Alright, Hiashi, I'll leave it to you."

The man nodded, stepping up and silencing them all with a single look. He might've improved his relationship with his daughter, and, from what Naruto could tell, with Neji as well, but that didn't mean he wanted to cross the man. Hiashi had a terrifying aura.

"The seven of you are here for one purpose. You are here to train and grow better. Over the next few weeks, we will be gauging your strengths and weaknesses with the help of multiple members of the Hyuga clan, myself included." The man said this, though, as he looked down at the rest of them, he corrected himself. "I, personally, will only be training with Hinata and Neji, but the rest of you will each be taught by some of the Hyuga's best. Master Jiraiya will also be assisting all seven of you in techniques ranging from Taijutsu to Ninjutsu. If you have any questions, you may ask them now."

No one said a word.

"Excellent. We will begin immediately. You will each split off into pairs, and take a section of the room, all of…"

The man's voice trailed off in Naruto's head as he turned towards the Hyuga who'd walked over to him. She was taller than him by a notable margin, though she seemed to have about as much muscle as him. He'd noticed that was a fairly consistent thing about the Hyuga, however. They weren't terribly built, which probably lent itself to their fast style, striking gently, with power flowing into each strike thanks to their chakra.

He wasn't necessarily thrilled to be stuck in training, but he could, at least, acknowledge the benefits of it. While he wouldn't quite be receiving the one-on-one attention he'd been wanting from Jiraiya, he'd instead be receiving an unbiased opinion from several top-tier Jonin.

Plus, it seemed he'd be getting to hang out with some of the other Genin he knew.

_Oh, right… _Naruto remembered. _I kind of forgot I'm a Chuunin now. _

He'd left his vest back in his room, placing it in a cupboard and leaving it there for the foreseeable future. He may've received the promotion, but he didn't feel worthy of it. He'd vowed that until he felt he'd earned the title of Chuunin… he wasn't going to accept that vest. He'd leave it there until he was ready, ready to take on the meaning of that title, and ready to truly become a strong ninja, like Jiraiya had said.

Speaking of the man…

_What the hell were those two talking about earlier? _Naruto questioned absentmindedly as he practiced strikes against the Hyuga in front of him, who blocked all of his attacks without any effort. _They know something about me… about my past, or my parents, or…_

_Or about me._

It was agonizing, having to pretend like nothing was wrong as he kept himself moving. Still, he had no choice. Perhaps later, when he was better, when he could stand beside his friends and fight… then he'd have earned it all. That vest in his cupboard, the truth of his past…

And the title of Hokage.

/-/

Kabuto followed the back of Pain through a set of simple halls, a trickling fear hanging in the depths of his stomach.

The base they'd arrived at was far smaller than Kabuto had been expecting. It wasn't nearly as massive as one Orochimaru would've used, with interconnecting tunnels and traps built solely to confuse invaders. No, the Akatuski seemed to have banked not on a confusing design to keep out intruders…

But raw intimidation.

A few of the members stalked the rooms around him. He'd seen Kisame earlier, messing with Itachi Uchiha as the younger man tried to sleep. He'd also run into two figures he'd only ever heard about, who he could only assume were Hidan and Kakazu.

The Immortal duo, as they were called, weren't exactly a team Kabuto felt like interacting with. They didn't terrify him, but…

There was something off-putting about them. Something… sinister.

"We're here."

He looked up at Pain and nodded, letting him step to the side and make way for Kabuto to enter into the room.

It was… quaint.

Well, it was small, damp, and dank, a rather crude place to set up a laboratory, which was, at least he assumed, what he'd been given. There wouldn't be any other reason to set him up with a room. Unless, of course, this was to be the world's most unappealing bedroom.

"You will be working from here." Pain confirmed for him apathetically. "Do you have any concerns?"

He had several.

"No, thank you, sir."

Pain hummed at that.

"Your duties here will be similar to those you had under Orochimaru. You will experiment with Jutsu's and techniques the same as you did before, but you will also act as a medical ninja, healing the wounds of our members. Understood?"

He nodded.

"Good." Pain stepped away from him, and out of the room entirely. "Work well, and you will continue to survive."

Pain made to round to the corner out of the room, but before he could, Kabuto called out to him.

"What of the Jinchuuriki?" He knew he was probably pushing his luck, but he'd always been overly curious. It'd gotten him into more than a few scrapes, but he'd always survived. Besides, Pain seemed to want him around. He was going to bank on that. "What will you do with them?"

Pain stilled for a moment. His body didn't move for over three seconds, and when he finally turned around, Kabuto had an odd inkling of a feeling, like the man's entire brain had shut off in that instant.

_I'll… have to look into that._

"For what reason do you require such knowledge?"

It was a fair question because he didn't have one.

"Curiosity."

There was a pregnant pause.

"Is your curiosity worth me risking a plan I've worked for my entire life?"

He knew the answer to that question.

"No."

"The only thing you need to know," Pain spoke as he approached him, towering over him despite being only a few scant centimeters taller. "Is that we will be halting our efforts towards capturing the Jinchuuriki for quite a while. During this time, we will be building resources, and taking steps to ensure that when we resume our hunts, they will be successful."

He nodded, trying to show he would be questioning no further.

"Assemble yourself a laboratory by tomorrow. You will receive your first assignments then."

He nodded as Pain made his exit. It was, presumably, a departure from this base entirely. Kabuto knew very little about the Akatsuki's operations, but he definitely knew that Pain held himself, traditionally, in the Rain Village.

He sighed out, gazing around the room as he took in what he had to work with.

It was a rather uncomplicated space, putting it nicely. At the back of the room, there was a single cot, likely set up for him to work on the living bodies of the Akatsuki, or the dead bodies of their enemies. He'd had no problems with that, truthfully, at least, until recently. He'd been doing such things under Orochimaru for years now.

Still, lately, it had started to feel… wrong somehow. Grosser, in a way he couldn't quite make himself okay with.

_I'm an idiot. _Kabuto summed up rather succinctly as he walked to the corner of the room, moving a few of the tools he'd been given into positions he favored. _I'm too much of an idiot to even look out for myself. First I drove a wedge between Orochimaru and myself, and now, I've barely enough ground to stand on within the Akatsuki._

He was lucky Pain had wanted him, for if he hadn't… well, he wouldn't be there. Sasori would've let him die of his poison in what had once been the Sound Village.

Thoughts of his mother had been plaguing him, affecting him. He'd fallen so far into them that he'd risked his own skin for the sake of two random people. He'd have let them die in a heartbeat not a year back, even to avoid a simple injury.

He hated the way thinking of his mother made him feel, and yet…

_She'd… she'd be proud of me._

He wanted to deny the warm feeling he felt in his chest. He wanted to deny that he didn't feel pride in the simple thought of it. He wanted to deny that he wished he could escape all of this, that he wished he could go and just be…

Kabuto. The boy whose name had come from a helmet, found scattered next to his half-dead body.

Who was Kabuto, though?

He'd been asking himself such a question long before now. Even going back to when he'd first infiltrated the Hidden Stone, to when he'd found his mother dead on the end of his blade, to when Orochimaru had picked him up and molded him like putty.

Who was he supposed to be?

_Mother… do you know? _He wanted to ask the woman. _Do you know… who I'm supposed to be?_

Just as before, and as always…

He received no response.

/-/

"Training with them is exhausting! I swear, we've been going at it for hours, me barely hanging on and at the end of my rope, and then Tenzo will be all," Sakura places her hands on her hips, and scrunches up her face, doing a fairly bad, if not admittedly funny impression of her Wood Style teacher. ""Well, we've only just arrived at the hard part! You'll need to actually try now, Sakura." Uuuuugh."

The girl leaned back, stretching herself out on the grassy knoll the three of them sat upon. They'd decided, for some odd, unknown reason, to camp out in the Third Training Ground. It wasn't exactly a picnic, given that it was the middle of summer, and the only things eating were the thousands of mosquitoes that swarmed around them.

"Honestly, at this point, I'd rather Anko just mercy-kill me." The girl spoke, groaning into the air as she released her frustrations. "It'd be waaaay easier."

"I get you." Sasuke nodded from Sakura's left side, laying opposite Naruto on her right. "Kenjutsu is interesting, but I don't think I realized just how much I'd have to learn just to _start _on the basics. I've been at it for a week, and yet I feel like I've learned nothing but forms."

Naruto snorted.

"Tell me about it. Between Lee, Neji, and all the Hyuga masters around, I'm being mashed into the dirt nearly twenty-four-seven. I win my fights every once in a while, but, well, the trainers usually call them off before I can hit my second wind."

"And then your third wind." Sakura giggled. "And then the fourth. Honestly, your real strength is just refusing to stay down. Eventually, your opponents just get tired of dealing with you and give up."

"I'm going to try and take that positively."

"Good luck with that."

Sasuke smirked at the two of them, even as he sat up.

"So, Naruto, you've been training with…"

"Kiba, Shino, Neji, Lee, Tenten, and Hinata." He explained. "Hiashi did it as a show of good faith for Hinata, I think, inviting her whole team to train alongside her, and the same for Neji. I don't know if it's totally earned their trusts, or if it's done much at all, really, but… it's a start."

"Sometimes that's all you can do." Sakura seemed to agree. "Start. Make up for your actions as best you can."

"Speaking of," He segued. "How are things with you and Ino?"

That seemed to dampen Sakura's mood slightly. The girl let out a rather exasperated sigh, seemingly trying to bury herself into the hill behind her with the back of her head.

"Complicated." The girl summed up. "Messy, and complicated. She and Haku… It doesn't take a genius to see that what they have isn't healthy. For either of them. Haku can't totally rely upon Ino, and I'm sure even Ino can't cope for long with being entirely relied upon. At some point, they're going to have to address the elephant in the room."

She sighed, a long, drawn out thing.

"I just hope that when they do, it's not too late."

He hummed as he nodded, trying to let that particular conversation topic die where it stood. He wanted to help his friend as best he could, but, well, he knew for a fact that nothing _he _had to say was solving that particular dilemma, at least not tonight.

"I've got to admit," Sasuke seemed to feel the same, changing the subject without thinking much on tact. "I appreciate that Yugao pushes me to my limit, but a lot of the time I wish Hayate was the only one training me. Maybe that makes me weak, but he seems to actually know how to teach, as opposed to miss-purple-hair, who seems to only know how to try and rip me in half."

"How's Kakashi been?" Sakura asked, turning to her… boyfriend? Naruto had sort of been informed, but things were weird. "He's been acting all weird ever since we got back from that mission, were you able to figure out why?"

"I have a guess." Sasuke nodded. "I'm pretty sure Tobi… the guy with the orange mask, is actually his old friend Obito Uchiha."

Naruto's eyes widened minutely. He didn't really care who it was the man used to be, but to hear that Kakashi had a connection to him… that was something.

"That's pretty messed up." Sakura summed up his thoughts rather succinctly. "What's he planning on doing?"

"Well, he's training me, but I think he's also trying to expand on some of what he can do. He's been pushing himself hard, using multiple different Jutsu's. Just yesterday, he hit me with all five chakra natures in a row."

"Sounds brutal." Naruto commented.

"It is. Still, even I can tell he's buffing up his chakra, increasing the amount over and over. It's gradual, but… from when we first started, he can already cast an extra Jutsu per session. Over the course of a few years? That could be a pretty big deal."

Naruto nodded in agreement, but found their conversation gradually fade as the background noise of the night set in around them. Crickets called from just beyond the tree line, echoing out alongside thousands of other fauna.

"Did anyone bring a tent?" He asked.

"No, why?"

"I was just thinking… maybe we should stay out here for tonight?" Naruto turned to the other two. "I mean… it's nice out, right? And I feel like the three of us never get to just… hang out together like we used to."

"Are you kidding? We're getting devoured by mosquitoes!" The pink-haired kunoichi spoke as she swatted a particularly large one on her neck. "And besides, we've practically gone to Ichiraku every day this week."

"First off," Naruto raised his hand in mock protest. "Semantics. Second, I meant more along the lines of… when we were kids, and we'd spend the whole day together, and train, and hang out until dark. I feel like we haven't done that in years."

Another bout of silence, though this time, it was cured by Sakura standing up, and making a few signs with her hands as she sighed. She walked forward and off of the hill, until she came to a generally flat area.

"Help me with this." The girl spoke as she slammed her hands into the ground. "Earth Style: Mud wall!"

A decently sized chunk of earth shot up from out of the ground, and then a second a scant few seconds later, as Sakura repeated the Jutsu. She got on the opposite side of one of the walls, and signaled for them to come over.

"Push the other one towards me."

Naruto smiled widely as he realized what they were making and dashed over. He pushed his full body weight against the structure, and with Sasuke's help, the chunk of mud and rock finally budged after a good twenty or so seconds. It slammed into the other side, forming a makeshift earthen tent.

"It doesn't really have a back." Sasuke commented absently.

Sakura groaned as she formed another series of seals, and formed one final wall, just behind the structure. It jutted out horribly, a square trying to close the gap left in a triangle, but it was… somehow hilarious to Naruto. He found himself cracking up as he dove into their new tent, even as the other two joined him.

"Happy?" Sakura asked him with an amused expression.

"Hell yeah!" Naruto laughed leaning against the back wall and finding it to be fairly supportive. "Just like old times!"

"Feels a bit weird for a couple of thirteen-year-olds to be saying that," Sasuke breathed out a laugh. "But sure."

They sat inside the 'tent' for a while, just sort of existing. It wasn't that long before Naruto himself came up with an idea, one that promised to shake the very world to its core.

"Hey, so… We're all Chuunin now, right?"

The other two looked towards him suspiciously, already seeing something wrong with the wry smile on his face.

"Yes… Why?"

"I was just thinking… what if we did a little competition?"

The other two, despite claiming to be infinitely more mature than him, were definitely still intrigued by the idea.

"Okay, shoot." Sakura asked of him. "What's this competition?"

"Well, we're all training under our masters, getting better… So why don't we race to see who's the first to get Jonin?"

His friend's eyes widened, and he could see the small grain of intrigue growing larger, more encompassing.

"Alright." Sasuke pondered, rubbing a hand on his chin. "Sure, the idea's sound enough. Gives us another reason to aim for the stars with our training. But you never explained something. The first one to Jonin gets… what?"

Naruto hadn't really considered that.

"…Bragging rights?"

Sakura snorted.

"Sounds like a bit of a shitty reward if you ask me."

"Big fan of bragging rights myself," Sasuke added onto the girls criticism. "But even I have to agree."

He slapped his best friend on the arm, earning a small snicker from both of them.

"Seriously, though… it's a good plan. I like it." Sasuke smirked. "You two will have to work on that reward though, I'd like something nicer than bragging rights when I win."

He bristled slightly.

"You're all buying me ramen for a year when I win!"

"Only a year? Think bigger, Naruto." Sakura patted him on the back. "Why not your entire life?"

He hadn't even considered such power.

"That one." He corrected himself. "I'll take the life ramen."

"How hopelessly pedestrian." Sasuke spoke edgily, as he occasionally did.

""How hopelessly pedestrian!" Y'know, Sasuke, I'm quite fond of you, but you sound really lame sometimes." Sakura smirked.

"What?"

"She's right." Naruto confirmed for the boy as he held back a laugh. "Totally lame."

"Oi! Fine, when I get Jonin, I'm making you memorize a dictionary, Naruto!"

"You know it'd all just bounce off of him." Sakura rounded back on him this time. "He couldn't handle it. He'd spontaneously combust."

"Whose side are you on, Sakura!?"

"I'm on the side of justice!"

"And you say I sound lame…"

"Hey!"

Their laughter rang out across the Third Training ground for the next hour or two as they droned on and on. They spoke of their competition, sure, but of their lives apart, and together.

It wasn't much of a camp-out. They had no cooking utensils, and no food to be cooked either. They had no door to keep out mosquitoes, and a few thousand of the damned things. Hell, they were sleeping on the grassy earth beneath them, having brought no beddings of any kind.

Still, as they fell asleep with nothing but a dirt wall above them, alone in shielding them from the elements, Naruto couldn't help but smile.

They had each other, and for tonight, at least…

That was enough.

**End Chapter 58**

* * *

**And so Part 1 comes to a close! **

********Hope you guys liked this chapter! I worked ahead for a few weeks so I could get this how I wanted it. It's not perfect... but meh, it rarely is. I don't think I've ever released a chapter I was 100% happy with.********

**It's been really cool having you all with me on this adventure! ********I've got the next few arcs loosely planned out, but major events are there and all that jazz. ****We're not done yet, not even close to done, really, but we're p******robably more than halfway through. In terms of word count, at least. Unless I'm wrong, in which case... shit. ****

**And so the hiatus begins! This story will be taking a break for around a month. Maybe more, maybe less, but it should fall within a week of that deadline either way.  
**

**Anyways, I suppose I'll see you all next chapter!  
**


	59. Chapter 59

**And we arrive, the grand reawakening is upon us!  
**

**That sounds too haughty... Meh. **

**Anyways, I suppose without further ado, enjoy.**

* * *

**Chapter 59: Return to the Leaf**

* * *

"Again!"

Naruto practically blinked forward.

His leg collided with Neji's arm, knocking the teen off balance. He smirked as his opponent grunted, and used that momentum to pivot mid-air, trying to drive a second kick down on his opponent's already injured arms.

Neji deflected the blow, causing Naruto's foot to impact the dirt training ground beneath them. It sunk in, which was all the time Neji needed to charge up one of his new abilities.

"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!"

Naruto barely managed to snake his way out of the technique's path, dislodging his leg as he began gathering chakra in his right hand for a Jutsu of his own.

"Rasengan!"

It was a weaker variant, the same as Neji's, which made sense given that they were A. in a spar, and B. exhausted as all hell. Still, in comparison to the young man beneath him, Naruto could still feel some energy coursing through his veins.

It was their fifteenth set of spars that day, and while everyone else was running out of juice, he still had quite a bit of gas in the tank. He was finally getting to show more of what he could do in longer engagements.

He pushed his ball of chakra into Neji's abdomen, and watched with some small semblance of glee as it launched him back into the snowy grass just beyond them.

"Winner by ring-out," The Hyuga who'd been put in charge of their lessons today pointed towards him. "Naruto."

He pumped his fist.

That was his seventh victory in a row.

"Ah…" Kiba groaned as he leaned forward, panting harshly even as Akamaru collapsed down behind him, giving the beast-master something to lean against. "Can we be done for the day? It's bullshit having to fight the human-battery this many times."

Naruto snickered at the nickname. He was quite fond of it if he were being honest, but still, not like Kiba was getting away with that without some mockery.

"What's the matter, Kiba?" He turned to look at the boy, blinking daintily like a sweet summer maiden. "Is someone afwaid to fight widdle-old-me?"

Kiba glared as Shino, Neji, and Hinata laughed quietly.

"Akamaru?"

The dog barked back in question.

"We're taking his head."

He barked once more in assurance.

Naruto cracked his knuckles, 'heh-hehing' under his breath as his soon-to-be opponent stepped up to the proverbial plate. Unfortunately for him, another, more important Hyuga walked over, and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, ripping his enthusiasm out from under him.

"I'm afraid that's all for today." Hiashi shot them down calmly. "It wouldn't do to overwork yourselves. You've been at this for hours, and that's after training this morning."

Naruto and Kiba both moaned out in complaint, but there would be no stopping the Hyuga's leader, given that he owned the place, and could quite easily kick them the hell out.

"Still, I must say," The man smiled at them, looking over the five present with a proud grin. "It's undeniable that all of you have grown strong. Even those absent today have proven their strength."

Naruto almost blushed at the honest praise, especially coming from Hiashi Hyuga of all people. The rest of his group was much the same, but none more than Hinata, whose smile Naruto was fairly sure could part the gray clouds hanging above them on this crisp winter afternoon.

Hiashi had really mellowed out. It'd taken some time, sure, but he'd come to accept Hinata, come to apologize profusely, even going so far as to bow his head to her. He'd done it in complete isolation, of course, to Hinata and Hinata alone, but the girl had told Naruto of it in private, nearly bawling as she thanked him for helping her with her family problems.

Honestly, Naruto wasn't positive what he'd really done on that matter. Sure, he'd provided her comfort, but really, he was fairly sure she was still talking about their conversation from the Chuunin Exams.

It was crazy, the event felt like a lifetime ago.

He gazed across their group as well, noting the absences. TenTen and Lee were out on a mission, working underneath a certain other ninja…

One he was looking forward to seeing again. Their group had departed nearly a month ago now.

He smiled as he tuned back into the rest of the world, looking over at Hiashi as he placed a hand on his hip. His friends all crowded around him, slinging jokes around like weapons as they waited for him to finish his conversation. They'd promised to go for barbecue that night, and he had a personal rule to never refuse free food.

"Well, I'd hope so." He smiled as he glanced towards Kiba, who was waving him over, having grown impatient as Naruto idled on the training ground.

"It has been two years."

/-/

"I must say, even though it felt good to stretch my body, and test myself against real foes…!" Rock Lee let out a small sigh of exhaustion, his breath showing in the cold, winter weather as they dashed through the trees. "Having been away from the village for a whole month… I'm growing a bit tired."

Tenten murmured something in agreement, but it was muddled, buried beneath the scarf she'd wrapped around her neck to keep herself warm during their long hours spent in the wilderness. Their mission had been simple but important, to look around the Leaf's forests for any of Orochimaru's remaining bases.

In their month-long trek, they'd only found two.

And they'd already known about both of them, thanks to a certain duo traveling along with them.

"Yeah, that's our bad." Kin called to the rest of the group, tucking her hair back into her own scarf, even if it was a bit lighter in terms of material. "We really thought we'd be able to locate at least a few others. Dosu knows for a fact that there're two more in here somewhere…"

"But none of us ever got to visit any of those bases." Zaku concluded, moving some of his now longer hair out of his face. "Eh, it's not like Tsunade was expecting us to find anything. She said as much when we left."

They'd had a few long years to confirm what they'd already suspected. Orochimaru was well and truly dead. There'd been no activity, aside from some remnants from the sound village. Those were usually wiped out quickly, though, pointedly, not by the Leaf Village

Tsunade had guessed it was the Akatsuki tying up loose ends.

"Still…" Tenten shivered, teeth chattering as she rubbed up and down her sides with gloved hands. He wasn't sure about the logistics of such an idea when one's only real offense was summoning weapons, but he decided not to ask, given that the girl looked positively miserable. "I didn't want my first requested mission from Lady Tsunade to be a failure… ugh."

"It wasn't a failure."

The rest of the group turned to him. A small jitter of nervousness shot through him as that many eyes hit him at once, but he'd gotten quite good at ignoring those feelings. When he couldn't, he would let his hand drift to the blade on his back, a comforting presence whenever he found himself in a bind.

"We didn't fail." Sasuke reassured them. "We found more than a dozen valuable research documents, straight from Orochimaru's laboratories. Even if we'd known where they were, getting into his bases without getting caught in his traps and getting back out without any casualties… That's an accomplishment, is it not?"

It took a second, but his allies smiled at him, nodding as they faced forward once more. He did the same, focusing back in on the road ahead as they settled in for the long haul.

It was easier to maintain calm, as well, when he was the leader of the group. The only Chuunin present, it fell to him to dictate their movements, their paths through the old snake's lairs, and, ultimately, it'd been his decision to call off what he'd concluded was a meaningless search.

He'd taken to wearing a rather simple outfit, a long, blue robe, like some from the old Uchiha had. Over it was his Chuunin Vest, which he'd had specially emblazoned with the mark of his clan. His collar and coattails flapped in the harsh, snowy winds, though his vest kept him rather warm, for the most part. It helped that he'd outfitted it with a temperature regulator before the mission.

The others had opted for more… analogue options, scarves, mufflers, and gloves.

Honestly, he'd wished he had a pair of the latter more than a few times as they dug through inches of ice and snow to uncover one of Orochimaru's laboratories. That'd been hell, truly, and by the end, he'd sort of just assumed he'd be needing to get a few fingers amputated.

Luckily, his teammates had assured him he was just being overdramatic.

Still, he rubbed his hands together, trying to generate some heat as a particularly bad gust virtually froze him to the bone.

_Just a few more hours. _Sasuke mentally groaned out. _Just a few more hours, and I'll get to see everyone…_

A whole month without them hadn't been quite as difficult as he'd expected, and, really, he was fifteen years old now, he was probably expected to be able to distance himself just a bit from them without dying.

Still, not being able to see Naruto, or Ino, or Kakashi, or Yugao, or Hayate…

Or Sakura…

It was beginning to grow exhausting.

He pushed off hard on a particular branch and tried not to sigh out as it broke underneath him, sending him plummeting towards the forest floor below.

_I hope Sakura's having a better day than I am._

/-/

"Well… it's the same as always."

She let out a bored noise of acknowledgement as the Hokage ran her hands up and down her neck, pushing her skin around like putty in a way that had once been incredibly painful. Now… well, she'd gotten used to it.

"It's been a while since you've used it, correct?"

"Outside of our sessions?" Sakura looked up at Tsunade. "I only ever use it here, nowadays. It's not really something I need to break out on missions. At least not normally."

"Yeah, I can see that. So, since you used it last month, you've left it entirely inactive?"

She nodded.

"That's… hmm. I'll have to run a few more tests there, because it's still giving off the same readings that it was when you'd used it only a day prior."

It made sense. The curse mark didn't really care whether or not she was inactive, because it certainly wasn't. She wasn't quite sure what to make of that, other than the usual 'probably not a good sign' sort of feeling.

Sakura was in the hospital for another of her monthly 'making sure your curse mark isn't killing you' check-ups, which, while a bit of a nuisance, couldn't be denied as nonetheless important. Tsunade always saw to both her and her master personally, which had helped her shake the woman's rather poor first impression.

"Alright, I'll analyze the data here, and get back to you when we meet again next month. Actually, hell, we can make a day of it, I'll have Sasuke come along too, test his skills with this stuff in an actual setting." The woman laughed, before she stilled slightly. "Though… that meeting might be pushed back a bit, quite honestly."

_Oh?_

"Something come up?"

"Yes, though probably not what you think." Tsunade smirked, before hitting her atop the head with a manila folder. "Alright, you're done. Head on out, I've got other patients to see."

She grumbled something under her breath as she slipped her coat back on. A warm brown in color, she'd picked the article of clothing up on a whim a week or two ago when the weather had hit freezing temperatures.

Honestly, with only the normal sleeveless outfit she wore underneath, she wasn't quite sure how she'd managed to avoid perishing last winter.

She noted idly as a flash of pink entered her vision that she should probably cut her hair here soon. It was growing… quite long, easily reaching down to the bottom of her spine. She'd resolved to get it trimmed a couple of times now, but every time she went to go…

Well, if she were being honest, she kind of liked the flair the longer locks brought.

She passed through the maze of hallways out of the hospital, waved to the receptionist who she'd grown to quite like, and stepped out into the cool winter air. Immediately, she buttoned her coat, and turned to the person waiting for her with a shivering "Hey".

"Yo." Anko called back, having, for once, buttoned up her own outfit. "Gods it's fucking freezing."

They walked side-by-side for a while, making their way back into the village proper, though, admittedly, they chatted about nothing of value for most of it.

"By the way, when's your next session?"

"You mean for my curse mark?" Anko asked, turning to her with a raised eyebrow. "Two weeks. Next next Thursday."

"Ah, cool."

There was a small bout of comfortable silence, before Anko cut into it with a snort.

"Still can't believe you ripped off my outfit." Anko scowled at her from out of the corner of her eye. "Like… you had to go with a trench coat? That's kind of my thing."

"And now it's our thing." Sakura turned, placing both hands over her heart and feigning innocence. "After all, I just wanted to get closer to my precious teacher!"

Anko stared at her for a good five seconds.

"It was on sale, wasn't it?"

"70% off."

"Ah."

"And it looked like yours, but a bit darker." She explained. "Jokes aside, I thought it'd be cool if we matched a bit."

Anko smiled ever-so-slightly, a gesture Sakura didn't miss before it warped into a teasing expression.

"How lame." The woman pretended not to like their analogous fashion. "My own student, cramping my style."

"What style?" She teased back. "You wear fishnets and a trench coat. That's not style, that's advertising your cheap hourly rates."

"Bite me."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

/-/

"Did you just steal my cut!?"

"Didn't see your name on it anywhere, Naruto!"

"Kiba, you piece of-"

"Enough!" Neji erupted. "Eat like regular human beings or take your disagreement outside!"

Hinata giggled quietly, muffling the sound into her sleeve as the two spiky-haired boys glared at one another. Naruto harrumphed away, immediately lunging for another piece of meat as it finished cooking. This time, he got to it first, and laughed under his breath as their resident canine-controller bared his fangs.

Kiba was a lot less intimidating when he didn't have a dog the size of him backing him up, however. Akamaru wasn't exactly allowed inside a restaurant, especially not one which sold almost exclusively meats, so he'd been sent back to the Inuzuka compound early.

Which meant that Naruto had nothing to fear from the boy beside him.

Especially not when it came to snagging meats off the skillet. Cheap shots aside (which Kiba's blatant theft of his piece earlier had most certainly been) the boy didn't stand a chance of defeating him when it came to food.

He did envy Shino just a bit, though. The boy hadn't said a single word so far, instead, he'd quietly snagged all of the best cuts the moment they'd been finished. He wanted to be mad at that, but he simply couldn't help but respect the technique.

"Sho…" Hinata seemed to realize she was speaking while still chewing and took a moment to swallow. "Sasuke's coming back tonight, right?"

He found himself smiling.

"Yeah. In fact, he should be getting back into the village in a few hours, at least, that's what their last missive said."

"Mm" Hinata grabbed another piece, feeding into her surprising identity as a bit of a glutton. "It'll be good to see Tenten and Lee as well. It's been weird not having them around."

He could sort of see what the girl meant by that. They'd been training off and on as a group for a good two years, mainly at the Hyuga estate, though there had been a couple of times when Jiraiya had taken their group out a bit to train on more interesting tactics.

Why he bothered doing such a thing for him and the rest of his group, Naruto still didn't know. Apparently, it came down to whatever he and Hiashi had been hinting about all that time ago, when they'd first been let into the compound.

He'd still yet to find out just what that was.

He wasn't letting it keep him down, though. Instead, he was focusing on what he could do, namely, getting waaaaay better at hand-to-hand combat, and utilizing his Jutsu in more effective ways.

The Rasengan, mostly. It was a powerful tool, and one he'd gotten proficient enough at to use with a single hand. Well, not at full power. That, at least, still required a clone to do, but a less-tightly-wound Rasengan, meant for launching enemies backwards, he was more than capable of creating alone.

"So, wait," Kiba spoke as he inhaled a few cutlets. "Are you waiting for him here, or?"

"No? How would he know we made dinner plans?"

"Oh, good point." Kiba spoke as he reached down at the same time as Naruto. "Oi… that's my cut."

"Very funny." Naruto faked a laugh. "But seriously. Let go before you get hurt."

Neji grabbed both of their arms and sent a minuscule amount of chakra into both of them. Naruto winced as he shook the limb out, completely forgetting about the small piece of beef still left on the fryer.

It was swiped away by Hinata before he could so much as blink.

Both he and Kiba looked at the girl depressively.

"W…whaf?" The girl asked through a full mouth. "Dih I do sumfing wronh?"

They could only sigh.

/-/

Sakura was almost surprised to find Naruto waiting by the Village Gates as she arrived.

Almost.

"Hey!" She called out to him, watching as he turned and smiled over at her. "When'd you get here?"

"Came straight from dinner." He explained as she stepped in next to him, facing the gates. "Wanted to be able to greet them the moment they got in."

She breathed out a laugh.

"Same here."

They waited in silence after that, and the hours crested on slowly. The sun had long since set in the sky, and they were using a lantern they'd borrowed from Kotetsu and Izumo to light the bitter night. Snowflakes began to fall without any real fanfare, and it didn't take long for a real snowstorm to begin brewing.

"Well… he could end up being a no-show tonight." Naruto spoke the words neither of them wanted to hear. "It's not impossible, hell, it's honestly likely that they put themselves up for the night, rather than risk a blizzard or something else."

She acknowledged that statement, but still couldn't help letting out a small grumble as she sat down, placing the lantern in front of her.

"I take it we're not going anywhere?"

"You're free to." She responded with a cocked eyebrow.

"Yeah, I _totally _believe you wouldn't hold that over me." He sat down beside her, stretched his body, and let out a satisfied sigh as he settled in. "How long we stayin'?"

"We can leave once the hours hit single digits."

"Ouch, one o'clock?

"Don't tell me you'd try and leave earlier?"

"I wouldn't, just that it would be nice to have the option is all."

"Technically, you still have the option."

"Yeah, I'd appreciate if you'd face me when you say that, at least then I might have the tiniest modicum of belief."

"Hey, that's a big word for you, modicum."

He glared at her.

"Don't go all Sasuke on me. And…" Naruto actually blushed, forcing her to sit forward and take him seriously. "Don't tell him, but I've been studying."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I took some remedial lessons in between my training this month. Iruka sensei was real cool about it, didn't tell anyone or judge me."

She smiled at him, an honest smile to show she was genuine.

"I'm proud of you."

The teen blushed and looked away from her.

"Y-yeah, well, thanks." He smiled back, a bit too embarrassed to be one of his sunnier expressions, but she caught the underlying feelings. "Don't know if I ever told you, but I dig the longer hair."

She snorted.

"Why thank you, I've only had it a year now."

"Hey, better late than never!"

"I don't think you're the one who gets to say that."

"Well, I don't see why-"

She waited for him to continue. Instead, he stood.

"Hm, Naruto?"

"Well, well." He looked down to her and offered out his hand. "I think we should greet the new arrivals."

She turned towards the gates as she took his hand, and she saw the same as him. The black figures were hard to make out in the dark, especially given the small snowstorm that'd kicked up in the past half hour. Past that, though, they managed to cut a rather imposing figure, dashing along the pathway just outside.

Her face lit up as she stepped forward, Naruto hot on her heels.

They walked quickly, though they didn't quite run. She was fairly sure they lacked the energy for it, honestly.

The black figures closed in, and she found herself shouting out.

"Someone sure took his time!"

If Sasuke was surprised to see them, he didn't show it. Instead, the gentle smile he shot to the both of them was almost pristine, contrasted against the white snow falling all around them.

She had to say he was more gorgeous, though.

Naruto shot Sasuke a smile, but walked over towards Tenten and Lee, hugging the both of them as they recounted their tale. Sakura appreciated it, honestly. She wasn't going to waste having some brief alone time with Sasuke.

She leaned in close and watched with amusement as his face heated up.

_Honestly, I don't get why you're shirking away. _She thought as she pressed her lips against his. _I'm just warming you up._

She loved the way he immediately surrendered to her. She'd never considered herself a particularly dominant person, but she'd realized a bit tentatively, around three months into their relationship, that Sasuke wasn't ever going to make a move on her of his own volition. That wasn't his fault, not really, because he was shy and socially inept.

And so, it had fallen to her to wear the pants in their relationship, and if that meant being a little more aggressive than she would've normally been, then so be it. It probably helped that Anko had been an influence in her life as well, the woman hadn't so much as altered her old, people-pleasing personality as she had taken a sledgehammer to it.

Which had perhaps had a hand in making Sakura just the _tiniest_ bit more forward…

She parted from him a few seconds later and didn't miss the way Sasuke leant into her minutely, trying to recapture her lips with his own.

"So greedy." She flirted under her breath, loud enough for him to hear alone.

"S-sorry." He murmured quietly, looking away from her with rapidly reddening cheeks and causing the predator inside her to want to capture his lips once more. "It's just… been a while, I was…"

"It's fine, it's fine." She shook her head. "We'll have time later; I still want to say hi to everyone else."

He nodded to show he understood, before breaking off and saying hello to Naruto, hugging the boy and joking lightly with him. In the meantime, she walked over to two of her best friends these past few years.

She was proud to see the new headbands each of them wore just below their hairlines, each sporting the crest of the Leaf Village proudly.

"Hey, Sakura." Kin spoke, smiling widely as she brought her into a tight hug. "Heh, it's been a while. How was your check-up?"

"Same as ever." She went along with the small talk. "Tsunade poked and prodded, and said it probably wasn't healthy for me before she sent me on my way."

Zaku let out a laugh at that.

"Sounds like every other session."

"By the way, I forgot to ask last month," She stepped towards him, taking his right arm in her hand, and observing it carefully. "But was Tsunade able to remove the wind-tunnels? I know she said it was risky…"

The boy smirked, before he held up his hand to her. Where there had once been a hole, there was now flesh substitute. It was an ugly gray in color, certainly, but she couldn't deny the honest smile that came to her face.

_The signs that you served Orochimaru… that he owned you…_

"They're gone." She remarked with an almost tearful smile. "I'm so happy for you."

The teen blushed, rubbing the back of his neck underneath his longer hair, which reached to the end of his neck.

"Thanks." He seemed to find his words a few seconds later. "Can't say I'm thrilled, exactly, but… It does feel good. I had to practically force myself to take the anesthetic, but… For once, it turned out okay. " He smiled easily as he turned towards Kin. "Feels like we're real Leaf ninja now."

Zaku's teammate nodded back to him.

"By the way," Kin asked. "how've you been?"

"Eh… alright, I guess?" She shivered slightly. "OK, fine. Cold, tired, and crabby, if I'm being honest."

Kin and Zaku both laughed.

"I feel that." Zaku admitted. "I know we were out there a month, but it honestly felt more like a year. Thought it'd never end."

"Yeah, I think our whole group was feeling that by the end," A memory flashed through Kin's eyes. "Especially with that whole buzz-saw-trap-thing that we ran into, you remember?"

Zaku shivered, though, unlike her, she had a feeling it wasn't from the cold.

"For the love of all that is sacred… please don't remind me." Zaku groaned out. "Sasuke was healing my ass for I don't even know how long after that shit."

She found herself laughing as she looked back towards the remainder of the group, who were breaking off and heading back towards the Leaf Village. She wasn't surprised to find Naruto and Tenten walking back together, those who had always had an odd friendship, though she was a bit surprised to see Lee and Sasuke conversing.

She wasn't sure what those two would have to talk about, but she was honestly too exhausted to really care.

"Alright, I wasn't expecting to be this damned tired, but I am." She apologized. "I'm sorry to cut our reunion short, I feel a bit bad, but-"

"Honestly, don't." Zaku snickered. "I was about three sentences away from making a break for my bedroom."

"Same here." Kin exclaimed with a nod. "Go get some sleep. We can all talk more tomorrow."

She smiled as she drew her hands into her coat's pockets, stepping away from the old sound members and back towards the Village.

"Alright, I'll be seeing you, then."

"Likewise."

/-/

Naruto tried desperately to ignore the knocking on his door come the morning, but whoever was summoning him was both quite determined and reeeeaaaally annoying.

"Ugh, I'm coming!" He shouted in no particular direction as the incessant noise droned on. He barely even had the patience to slip on a pair of pants before he wrenched open his door, prepared to kill whoever was on the other side.

It was about who he'd expected.

"Yo." Jiraiya smirked at him, in a way that let Naruto know he'd definitely meant to annoy him. "Took you long enough."

He took a deep, meditative breath, and reminded himself that, if push came to shove, he'd probably lose if he tried to murder the man in front of him.

"What?" He instead asked about as politely as he could manage, which was to say he growled the words out.

"Tsunade wants you and your team to report to her." He gestured with his thumb towards the building that hung in the background. "Didn't say why, though I've got a pretty good idea."

He considered that for a moment, before sighing and heading back into his room, grabbing one of his normal orange and black jackets. He'd outgrown the blue, or, at least, Sakura had told him he'd outgrown the blue, and even if he agreed somewhat, he'd thought it was a bit stupid that she said nothing to her boyfriend, who wore almost exclusively that same color.

"So what's this about?"

"No clue."

He paused for a moment.

"You said you had a guess a minute ago."

"Yeah, I have a guess, but where's the fun in ruining the surprise."

He considered the logistics of strangling Jiraiya where he stood, but ultimately decided against it.

"Fine." He muttered quietly.

"I'm going."

/-/

He wasn't the only one yawning as he pulled into Tsunade's office. The rest of Team 7 was present, sans Kakashi, who'd been, apparently, on a fairly highly classified mission for a few weeks now.

It was early in the morning, the sun having barely risen over the horizon, and to Naruto, at least, that meant that whatever Tsunade was about to give them was probably something she wanted started today.

Which sucked. He had no energy at all.

"Thank you for coming, you three." Tsunade smiled at them, and just a bit of his annoyance at her evaporated. "I apologize for summoning you this early, but I've a fairly urgent task to give to the three of you."

He stood a bit straighter. It wasn't shocking news, given that Tsunade trusted Team 7 more than they had any real right to be trusted, but he quietly hoped it wasn't some super important secret mission, since their whole friend group had been planning to go out later that day.

"As you may well know, the last Chuunin Exams were held almost two and a half years ago now, right here in the Leaf Village."

They nodded. It'd been a pretty big event for all of them.

"At the time, it led to the destabilization of the Leaf for a long period. Luckily, both the Sand and the Sound Villages were too inconvenienced to really take advantage of that at the time. We were able to avoid an international incident by immediately signing a deal of alliance with the Sand as well, preventing us from being invaded by either the Stone or Cloud."

They nodded; a bit unsure as to why they were receiving a history lesson of all things.

"Well, it's been two years since then, and in that time, we've both managed to stabilize the Leaf, and make true steps towards peace with the Sand. A peace we are now looking to utilize, and show off to the world."

"A show of strength?" Sasuke questioned.

"And of unity." Tsunade added. "We're looking to hold a joint Leaf-Sand Chuunin Exams."

Naruto nodded, as did the rest of the group. It made sense, and it'd been quite a while since the last one.

Tsunade held her right hand out and pointed towards the three of them.

"And you're going to be some of the people in charge of organizing it."

There was a moment when Naruto turned to look behind him, because surely, he must've missed someone else in the room.

There was no one.

"I'm talking to you, Naruto."

He turned back around with breakneck speed, and did, in fact, almost injure his neck.

"WHAT!?" He shouted, pointing to himself rather incredulously. "Why me, or, why us!?"

"Actually, I can answer that rather easily." She reached over to the left side of her desk and pressed on a button. "Send them in."

Team 7 turned back towards the door, each with varying degrees of surprise. They waited a good fifteen seconds before they heard the knob turn, and in walked three figures, two of which Naruto hadn't seen in quite some time.

"I've brought them, Lady Tsunade." Shizune spoke as she crossed the room and stood beside her master.

"Thank you." The Hokage responded simply. "Now, back to your question. Why you, you asked?"

The new arrivals let out small bits of laughter.

"Because we were told to get people of at least Chuunin rank from the Leaf Village." Kankuro answered rather simply.

"And you three were the first to come to mind." Gaara finished, smiling gently.

"Gaara? Kankuro?" He was a bit surprised to see the red head and his brother, though both had certainly grown both taller and broader over the two years since he'd seen them last. "So… you guys are…?"

"We're the Exams committee, in a manner of speaking." Kankuro answered. "We're here on orders from the Suna council."

"Oh? I wasn't aware they could boss around the 'interim Kazekage's' like that." Tsunade voiced playfully.

"They can't, well, technically, but we don't have much say yet, so-"

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!" Naruto felt like his entire world view was exploding. "I-interim Kazekage? Who?"

"Myself, Kankuro, and Temari." Gaara explained. "With Temari acting as the current Kazekage."

He blanked.

"Huh?"

"It's complicated." Kankuro sighed out. "Basically, the title of Kazekage is an inherited one in the Sand Village. The moment our father died, there could only ever be three Kazekage's for this generation, Myself, Temari, or Gaara."

He nodded, still a bit dumbfounded. He decided not to think too hard on the lack of any real melancholy or guilt from either of the two before him as they mentioned their father's untimely demise.

"Temari volunteered for the position, ever since Gaara lost a bit of powers thanks to that Jiraiya guy sealing Shukaku away, she's been stepping in to try and keep him safe. She figured this was just a natural expansion of that, I guess. Added onto that, Gaara doesn't really want to be Kazekage."

Gaara nodded at that. At that moment, Naruto chose to ignore the way that made him feel.

"That's cool of her." Sakura spoke up. "She seemed to be the protective type back when we fought her in the forest."

"Weren't you passed out for, like… most of that?" Sasuke turned to her.

Sakura shushed him.

"Anyways, the problem with that is that the council wants Gaara as Kazekage. Even without all of Shukaku's powers, he still dwarfs me and Temari in raw strength. Not to mention he's the youngest, so they probably figure they can manipulate him a bit more than me, and especially Temari. Still, they can't just say that, political power-plays and what not, so instead, they've accepted all of us in as 'Interim Kazekage's' and are letting us all take turns with the position, in the hopes that they can eventually convince Gaara to accept it, while carefully denying my and Temari's attempts to do the same."

Naruto blinked.

"Sounds ridiculously complicated."

"It's even worse in person." Kankuro assured him. "Anyways, back to the topic at hand."

"We're here to gather the aid of Konoha's ninjas, in accordance with the joint exams." Gaara explained. "In short, we'll be setting up an exam that uses both the Leaf and the Sands territories as testing grounds. And when we were told to get some of you guys to help, we picked you. We've worked with you plenty of times in the past after all."

He recalled their escape from the Akatsuki, and Zabuza's death. They'd not parted on the best of terms the last time they'd seen one another, through no fault of theirs.

"Well, _you'll_ be helping _us_ with the exams, since this is more of a Sand peace offering than a Leaf set-up. We're handling most of the work, and most of the exams will be set up in Suna itself. You guys just need to handle the first section. You remember ours, presumably?"

It'd been a written test, and oh boy did Naruto remember it. He'd… very vaguely gotten some of the questions, but the tenth one… that'd been the doozy.

"We'd need to create our own test?" Sakura asked, looking just the slightest bit dismayed. "Shouldn't that kind of thing be left up to… like… Jonin?"

"Actually, it's usually left up to Tokubetsu Jonin, who specialize in different fields." Tsunade explained. "But this time, I thought that the three of you could handle it when they suggested you, so I went along with it."

Naruto nodded a bit dumbly.

"O…kay…"

"At the end of the day, though, it's up to you whether you take this on or not." Tsunade explained once more, leaning on her elbow as she gave them a once over. "So, to summarize." She cleared her throat as she addressed them officially. "Team 7… your mission will be to organize the first test of the joint Leaf-Sand Chuunin Exams. You will be holding that first test here in Konoha, and then traveling to Sunagakure with the rest of the proctor's to oversee the next stage of testing. You will be in command of a security unit and will be able to issue them orders as you see fit. When the exams have finished, you will return here."

Naruto gulped.

"Do the three of you accept?"

He turned towards the others, for really, this wasn't a decision he had any right to be making by himself. Despite what he'd pictured, however, he was met with reassuring expressions, even from Gaara and Kankuro.

"It's your goal to be Hokage, right?" Sasuke spoke, tilting his head. "In that case, we can't turn down leadership opportunities, then, can we?"

His mouth hung open slightly as Sakura giggled as well.

"No, I don't think we can. Well, Naruto, don't you have something to tell Lady Tsunade?"

He looked over at the woman, who was shooting him an expectant look over her crossed hands. She nodded, as if to say, 'go on'.

"I… no." Naruto shook his head, smiling. He looked back up and gave his best sun-filled smile.

"We accept!"

/-/

An Anbu stepped into the twelfth training ground without any ceremony.

His job today was rather simple, acting only as a messenger of the Hokage.

He traveled through a dark building constructed in the middle of the grounds, a rather simple set-up meant to emulate an assassination or infiltration situation. The lights were off, but he could hear the sounds of combat in the distance, proof enough that someone, somewhere was using the facility.

It was, presumably, who he'd been sent to find.

He followed the noise, using it to navigate through the tight and maze-like corridors. Eventually, the sounds of battle drew so close he could feel the clash of steel in his teeth. Finally, he stepped inside the doorway into a small isolated room, where a young adult stood silently, having cut down the last training dummy in the area. What he was training for wasn't exactly a mystery, to challenge another who wielded a blade tied to his.

To strike him down.

"Excuse me." He kneeled before him, despite outranking the man. "I come bearing orders from the Hokage."

The man at back of the chamber said nothing, but he did incline his head slightly. He was, seemingly, listening.

"You have been assigned to a security detail for the upcoming Leaf-Sand Chuunin Exams. You will be under the command of Chuunin Team 7, and your mission will be to guard both them, and the Chuunin hopefuls of the Leaf and Sand Villages from outside threats."

He finished, and looked up, hoping to hear the man's acceptance before he left.

"Those three, huh?"

He felt a flash of… something fill the space around them. It wasn't killing intent, nor, really, was it aggressive in any way. If he had to describe it… it would've been a chill down his spine.

A literal chill.

"I take it I'm being sent because, by placing two Jinchuuriki in the same place, they're expecting interference?"

"I wouldn't know." He answered honestly.

The man in front of him let out a mirthless chuckle.

He rose steadily, gripping onto the massive handle of the even more massive blade he wielded. He held the thing with one hand, a feat that seemed almost impossible as he dragged it out from the floor, even as it left a foot-long divot missing in the stone below.

He slung the blade along his shoulder, and the Anbu watching got his first good look at the thing. It was titanic in size, a good two meters in length. What it lacked in practicality, it more than made up for in intimidation. Ice ran up it's backside, culminating in a makeshift guard that resembled more of a spike than anything.

The man at the back of the room finally turned to face him as he latched the blade onto his back, and his cold amber eyes locked onto the Anbu's own, causing him to swallow on some spittle in his mouth.

"Understood." Haku Momochi called to him in a voice like chipped ice itself.

"Tell her I accept."

**End Chapter 59**

* * *

**Yo!**

**So, big question out of the way, no, I didn't get the year wrong! We aren't at the start of Shippuden's canon yet, and it'll be another year before we arrive.**

**Before you worriedly say "Does that mean a year's worth of arcs before then!?", No! this is going to be the only arc before we head back to canon material. This is actually a filler arc from the anime, though I'd understand if you'd never watched it, given it comes during the war arc, seconds after Naruto and Sasuke actually fucking die.**

**So, y'know, one or two of you might not've watched the twenty or so episode arc that appears before you can go back to see what happens next.**

**It won't play out the same, obviously (******In the anime, Shikamaru and Temari team up to plan this section of the exams, but as Shikamaru's a Genin, and Temari is the Kazekage (title pending) they sort of can't make that work)**, but I wanted to give you guys some time to relax a bit as well. Things have been hectic in this story for the last while, flowing from battlefield to battlefield. We should have a while before that starts up again... probably.**

**Not that the drama will be any easier to deal with. If anything, that'll be much worse.**

**Going to also say that a reworked version of my first chapter should be out now! It's replaced the old chapter 1. It's not so different, but it takes away all mentions of physical abuse, which, y'know, were dumb. If you wanna read that, jump back about 58 chapters.**

**See you all next week!**


	60. Chapter 60

**It's weird having this chapter finished and ready to upload a week and a half before it gets uploaded. I'm not complaining, I just don't really know what to write here.  
**

**Meh, first world problems if ever I've seen them.**

**Without further ado, by now you get the idea.**

* * *

**Chapter 60: Tests of Varying (And Harder) Difficulty  
**

* * *

Naruto wasn't quite sure why he found himself flagging Gaara down in the middle of the staircase down from the Hokage's office. Perhaps it was just a genuine curiosity, but he felt he needed to question the boy on something. He asked, politely, if he could speak to him in private.

Gaara accepted with a confused tilt of his head.

They didn't go very far, Naruto merely wanting to find a secluded corner he could really speak his mind in. Gaara, to his credit, followed along without much care, staring blankly at the wall beside him as Naruto considered how best to say this.

"So…" He began a bit awkwardly, trying not to squirm as Gaara once again tilted his head in confusion. "You don't want to be Kazekage?"

"Oh… no." Gaara confirmed. "I do not."

That… Okay, that was fine. Naruto could get over that. It wasn't like he was watching another man live his dream and turn it down or anything.

"W-why?"

"I simply do not care for the idea, at least, not terribly." Gaara explained to him. "I am not entirely against it, and it would be both interesting and thought-provoking to try and win the faith of my people, but… I have already obtained all that which I desire. A family who love and appreciate me, freedom from Shukaku's voice… I am even able to sleep at night, thanks to that Jiraiya of the Sannin."

Naruto didn't really know what to say to that.

"If I am remembering correctly… you are yourself aiming for the position of Hokage, correct?" The boy addressed him without any malice, though also without any real care. They'd spoken more than a few times, but ultimately, it'd been Sasuke, Sakura, and his siblings who'd solved his problems, not Naruto. "I think you mentioned such a thing at some point."

"I… Yeah. It's my dream to become Hokage." He spoke, despite knowing that maybe it was a bit more complicated than that thanks to some of his and Sasuke's talks. "I guess… ugh, I'll just say it. It sucks to see someone have the opportunity to accomplish my dream, and just… throw it away for nothing."

Naruto was a bit surprised to find the man opposite him smiling, and truly, even if he were the same age as Naruto, only fifteen, he looked an adult.

"I just said I had a reason, did I not? It's not for nothing." Gaara turned back towards the main hallway, where Naruto could see Temari, Sasuke, Kankuro, and Sakura lightly conversing about something or another. "I just don't value the position in the same way you do. I don't need to earn any respect or prove something to my village by taking it, and I mean no offense, but I have no need to prove anything to you, either. I… I just want to be myself. And live happily with my family."

Gaara turned back towards him, a glimmer in his eyes as an unspoken question passed between them.

_'Is that enough for you?'_ He seemed to say.

He sighed out and breathed out some words under his breath that not even he managed to decipher. Still, when he looked up again, it was with a far more accepting demeanor.

"I… yeah. I understand that."

"You have such people as well, do you not?"

The question was phrased so innocuously that Naruto almost found himself blushing. He didn't stammer out anything, even if there was more than a small part of him that wanted to embarrassedly deny such a claim.

But that part didn't really matter.

"Yeah." He spoke as he smiled their way. "They're the best."

Gaara placed a hand on his shoulder, shooting him a kind, if not slightly naive smile.

"We'll protect them."

That, at least, he had no problems agreeing to.

"Of course!"

/-/

It came to Naruto's attention, sitting inside his apartment as they held a meeting on what to do for their test in the Chuunin Exams, that coming up with what to do for their test in the Chuunin Exams was really damned hard.

The fifteen members of their friend group had all gone out for dinner earlier, and while Naruto was fairly sure they _hadn't _been supposed to tell them all about the upcoming exams… Well, if Tsunade had honestly expected them to not say anything, then she'd trusted them too much.

He was sat on his bed, having let the others crash there for the night as they decided just how to arrange this whole test thing. Sasuke and Sakura sat on the floor in front of him, arguing back and forth over the logistics to some weird idea even he'd realized they should've tapped out on by now.

It seemed they agreed, too, however.

He moaned in abject sorrow as Sasuke tossed the piece of paper that particular idea had been assigned to into his garbage can, and even Sakura's humorous whisper of "goal" didn't have him feeling any better about their state of affairs.

"HOW!?" He shouted as he rolled around on his bed, covering his face with a pillow as he shouted into it. "How are we supposed to create an entire Chuunin Exams test… that's supposed to be even remotely challenging!?"

"That's not to mention it has to be right on the cut-off line between Genin and Chuunin." Sakura spoke, causing him to cringe slightly. "If we misplace it, it could end up with us having far too many Genin pass, essentially forcing Temari and everyone else to have to remake their entire set of tests on the fly. At worst, they might need to make up an entirely new stage of the exam."

"It can't be too challenging either." Sasuke remarked quietly, rifling through a few new pieces of paper. "If we fail significantly more than half of the students, our test will be rendered meaningless… the results would be thrown out, and we'd be essentially be divested from the mission altogether. Failures in every way."

He tried not to think about either of those two possibilities.

It didn't even begin to work.

"GAH!" He slammed his head into his pillow once more, even as Sakura quietly whispered for him to stop. "I hate this village… I hate this world… burn it all to the ground!"

"Have you considered you might be a bit dramatic?" Sakura smarmed with a horrid groan. "Look, just… shut up and help us. This isn't going to work unless we approach this as a team."

There was something there, Naruto couldn't help feeling. It was in her words, the solution to their problem.

"Won't work… unless we approach this as a team…" Naruto looked up at them. "What if we did something like that?"

They seemed to consider it for a moment.

"I mean, ours were single-elimination, or so we thought. In reality, if a single member of your team failed in the first test, then you were out." His teammates nodded, and he found himself following along, suddenly thinking up something. "That could be a good way to artificially enhance the difficulty, without actually making it too hard!"

"So, mistakes by one member cost the group." Sasuke reasoned, nodding as he considered the idea. "It's not terrible, but it worsens some of the earlier example. Sure, if it's easy, that means we can still pick off a few extra than we normally would, leading to a more average amount, but if we make this too hard, then we're risking knocking out almost every team instantly."

Aaaaand he was terrified again.

"N-never mind then," He backpedaled, his hands in front of him in a gesture of surrender. "I just-"

"Never mind? Why?"

He looked up at Sakura, seeing her eyes locked onto his own.

"Well, I thought you said it wasn't a good idea."

"Who said that?" Sasuke questioned, eyeing him calmly. "I was pointing out that it, along with I'm sure any other possible idea we'd come up with, will have it's ups and downs. We're going to have to choose something at some point." Sasuke shrugged. "It might as well be this."

He nodded, still not sure quite what to do.

"Besides, if we make that decision, then we can decide to purposefully skew on the side of easy." Sasuke explained, and Naruto crawled back along his bed, slinging himself off of it and sitting down beside his friends on the floor. "If we're doing a riddle like the last question-"

"Was it a riddle?" Sakura asked curiously.

"Then we can give them some extra time." Sasuke said, bulldozing through his girlfriends interruption. "The thing is… we first have to come up with an idea, and it has to be good."

Naruto nodded, leaned back, and laid down as he looked up at his ceiling. Idly, he noted that the hole he'd put in it while trying to practice shuriken techniques inside had not magically fixed itself while he wasn't looking, which was a real shame.

"Well… you said a riddle." He heard Sakura comment. "Maybe something like that? We could base it off of an interrogation, or, well, say it's like an interrogation. That's kind of what that guy Ibiki did, right?"

"That's true…" Sasuke murmured. "But I don't think they'd appreciate us just rehashing the last exam very much, especially with how many repeat takers there are from that year. We'd effectively give those twenty or so Genin a free pass."

They weren't getting anywhere, that much was clear.

He resolved to fix that.

"OKAY!"

Both of his teammates jumped, and Naruto thought he saw Sakura's curse mark flare in agitation.

"What the hell was-"

"We're sitting here twiddling our thumbs too much!" Naruto put both hands on his hips as he stood, taking a confident stance. "At the end of the day, we're going to have to pick something eventually. We might as well just take the idea of a riddle-based test and roll with that!"

His teammates looked to one another and shrugged simultaneously.

"Sure, I guess."

"Sounds good."

He smirked, sitting back down.

"Now the problem becomes… what exactly can we do that requires teamwork, but also can fail from one or more teammates messing up?"

Surprisingly enough, it was Sakura who perked up at that.

"Actually… I have an idea."

/-/

The first arrivals came a few weeks later.

It was a slow trickle, a few Sand Genin here and there, with the occasional Jonin or instructor following along. They filtered in simply enough, often going on small tours of the village, visiting place to place. It wasn't a terrible uptick in business, but her shop had scene a _slight _increase in traffic.

But, honestly, to Ino, it was all incredibly exhausting.

She yawned into her hand as she packed up for the road ahead. Every team who'd be participating in the Chuunin Exams this year had already been informed that they'd be headed to Suna if they succeeded. For most of them it was better to assume they'd do fine in the first test, and pack preemptively.

And today was the day of that first test.

She zipped up her bag and walked downstairs. She waved a brief farewell to her mother, who was, thanks to it being the end of the week, off that day. She sat her pack down in the corner, in a spot she wouldn't forget about and one that'd be easy to retrieve if for some reason she was in a hurry later.

She called out one last goodbye and pulled open the door.

Unsurprisingly, Haku had come to escort her.

He smiled warmly at her, well, warmly in the sense that his features attempted to defrost themselves, though it was… chipped, forced. It wasn't insincere, she was fairly certain Haku couldn't have lied to her to save his life, but it wasn't all there.

"Hey." She gave him a quick peck on the lips as she stepped in beside him. "You know, you didn't have to see me off. The exam site is like… four blocks from here."

Haku hummed out a sound that could've been construed as a laugh.

"Like it or not, you're a Chuunin hopeful. That means that you've got a target on your back, even if it's a small one. I refuse to let you out of my sight when you could be the target of some half-brained scheme to get ahead by some idiots."

Ino let out a quiet sigh as she rolled her eyes at that. He wasn't technically wrong, but he was certainly playing it up a bit. Sure, if someone had done extensive research, they might've figured out she was trying to go for Chuunin, but at the same time, they hadn't even taken the first test yet. It was way, way more likely that students would be focusing on their own results for now, rather than trying to sabotage the enemy.

Especially when that enemy wasn't even the foremost threat from this village. It was obvious to anyone with half a brain that while they were the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, the real threats were Neji, Lee, and Tenten. Those three were almost shoe-ins for the title, taking on mission after mission in the last few months, and the only reason Tsunade hadn't already given them the promotion was, likely, because she'd known this exam was coming up.

Still, Ino couldn't deny the way Haku's overprotective streak made her feel. It was like a firecracker in her chest, warming her even as they crossed through a few alleyways to reach their destination.

It wasn't healthy. Even two years later, their relationship, one of necessity for Haku and one of indulgence for Ino, was a mess.

But it was hard to deny the addiction. She'd grown used to Haku's presence, and she could tell he'd grown to rely on her too much as well. His escorting her everywhere, waiting on her every move… he was too scared to lose her too, to lose the last claim to a happy life he could possibly have.

Ino might've steered him towards people like Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura if she were a better person. She might've steered him to the Hokage, even, or perhaps someone who studied in mental trauma to try and help him.

She hadn't. She'd simply let the boy fester. The fact that she wasn't a better person bothered her quite a bit. Kept her up at night.

But she wasn't sure that counted for much.

They arrived at the exam site more than a half an hour early, which had been her intention. She spotted Shikamaru and Choji and waved to the both of them, and they returned with their own half-hearted gestures. Well, Choji's was whole-hearted, but Shikamaru was barely there, so they averaged out.

A few boys from the Sand, people who would, likely, not know her, took the liberty of checking her out. She caught a few whispers, a few looks, and even one particularly enthusiastic boy who shot finger guns at her.

He seemed to be cowed by something a moment later however, and she didn't exactly have to be a genius to know why he was now trembling behind the rest of his team. She turned to Haku with a small sigh as he ungripped the handle of the massive blade slung along on his back.

He had the decency to cough awkwardly, at least. She gave a small laugh and planted a kiss on his cheek as she walked towards her team.

"I take it I'm fine from here?" She asked coyly, watching as the boy had the sense to at least blush in embarrassment.

"Y-yeah. I'm on security here, so…" The boy rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, if you need anything, let me know, OK?"

"I will," She smiled to show her sincerity. "I promise."

Haku had, around a year back, received a promotion to Jonin from Tsunade. No one, not even Naruto, could realistically argue with that, given that he'd already been a high Chuunin-level fighter when they'd first met. It'd taken him precious little time to incorporate Zabuza's sword into his style, wielding the blade like an extension of himself. He'd allowed his ice to run up the back as well, forming an icy set of spikes that clung to the cool metal's spine. As long as it was near him, that ice didn't melt, either.

She could admit he cut a rather imposing figure, though that was likely the idea, being one of the ninjas chosen for security.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to that glow-up." Shikamaru muttered quietly, startling her out of her reverie. "Going from a 'never hurt a fly' type to an experienced and dangerous ninja. I mean, I guess he always was, but… eh."

She nodded as they waited for the test to begin.

It honestly didn't take that long. A bit humorously, though, there were a few late arrivals. None from the Leaf, but a team of sand Genin blazed into the area, jumping as they landed in the exam site and yelled "SAFE!".

"You guys alright?" Tenten had asked them with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah, toooootally fine!" A girl with straight black hair and a dopey smile had answered. "Team Matsuri made it, baby!"

"Were you…" Neji tilted his head to one side. "Expecting to not make it?"

All three members of the team coughed, including their apparent leader, she guessed the youngish girl's name was Matsuri, who smiled with a fake confidence a second later.

"Nope! Definitely expected to make it."

Lee smiled supportively and shot them all a thumbs up, while his teammates looked just a bit doubtful.

She caught sight of Zaku, Kin, and Dosu all waiting a bit ahead. She didn't know them, really, but they were Sakura's friends, so by extension, she trusted them well enough. Stood near them were another rather odd set of faces, a green haired, scantily dressed girl talking animatedly to two men she could only assume were her teammates.

_Strange… _She couldn't help thinking. _They don't… Seem like Genin…_

"Attention!"

A voice cut into her thoughts, forcing her and the rest of the teams around to turn towards it. It'd originated from a set of Leaf Chuunin, a few faces she didn't recognize.

"We will now begin the first test of the Chuunin Exams!" The man called out. "You will be escorted inside this building, after that, you will be taken aside three teams at a time to take the test. You will take this test together, but separate from your team. Follow behind."

No one complained as the thirty or so teams funneled into the main hall, even if there were a few whispers asking just what the hell that meant. It was a spacious area, large enough that it fit all hundred or so of them without any difficulty. There was seating, but only enough for the first ten or so people who'd walked in, who now looked back at the rest of them with smug auras.

She couldn't blame them, she might've been a ninja, but she would've killed for a chair.

"We will be calling your teams up in no particular order. It will be those closest to the front first, and those who arrived latest last." The man explained.

She looked behind her as Team Matsuri all sulked and couldn't suppress a quiet giggle that came from it.

"I would also be remiss to point out that any and all Jutsu usage inside this room is prohibited. A first usage will earn you and your team a penalty, and follow-up usages will see you ejected from the exam."

The entire room seemed to nod as one.

"First team, split and step inside here." The man pointed to three rooms on the left-hand side of the hall, and a Leaf Team she didn't particularly recognize stepped into the space one at a time. "Next two, each split up and take the middle and right rows."

There were three rows with three rooms each, spaced a good fifteen feet from each other. Ino got a decent look inside one of the individual spaces and noted that the room was around the size of an office.

The three teams split up into nine individuals and stepped inside their respective spaces. The doors were, obviously, sound-proofed, so no matter what Jutsu they could've pulled out, which they weren't allowed to pull out anyways, they wouldn't be getting the instructions early unless they were _very _obvious about it.

It only took around fifteen minutes for the first three groups to finish. Two of the teams exchanged high-fives with one another, while the last had their heads in their hands, and walked into one of the room's corners, clearly having failed.

Ino gulped.

"Next."

/-/

Their turn came around somewhere near the end of the day, a good four hours into the exam.

Ino, Shikamaru and Choji had been conversing casually with both Hinata, Neji, and Zaku's teams, though she had a feeling a certain beast master would be less than pleased with her for granting ownership of 'his team' to his demure teammate.

Still, it wasn't hard to tell, given that they kind of followed her lead outside of combat, even if that lead was more stammered advice delivered at a near inaudible volume.

She felt much the same about Zaku's team, because even if it was technically Dosu's, it seemed pretty clear that the other two, Kin especially, answered more to the former. It didn't seem to be a rift in the team, more of a silent acknowledgement. Dosu didn't complain when she brought it up, either, merely nodding his head as Zaku smirked.

"I used to get protective about it," He'd said quietly. "But eh… I don't mind. We split the role, mostly."

Neji's team went in first, having arrived long before any of theirs. The three stepped inside their doors and emerged twelve minutes later with confident smiles on their faces.

"Hey!" Tenten called to them, laughing as Lee did a pose out of excitement. "Good luck you guys!"

"Do not worry." Neji assured them. "The exam was rather easy. I don't think you'll have any problems with it."

A few who'd already failed glared daggers at Neji, but they could do nothing else. He and his team had passed, and they had not. The three made to leave but told her quite succinctly that they couldn't reveal anything about the exam, or they'd be failed immediately.

The proctors all around the exam area watched the three like a hawk until they left the hall, stepping outside and conversing about something or another. They said they'd be back by the time the exam concluded.

Zaku's team had followed not long after, and emerged a good fourteen minutes later, wiping some sweat from their brow, but smiling mightily.

"Aced it." Zaku had assured them, before taking a spot in the back of the room.

It was another hour after that before Ino and her team were called. Along with them was Hinata's team, the girl herself looking incredibly antsy.

"In here." The proctor, an older man perhaps in his late thirties, held the door open for her, and she stepped inside. "Take a seat."

She took stock of the room as quick as she could, while taking great pain to absorb as much as possible. It was a simple eight ft by eight ft space, and the walls were colored a flat white. Aside from a button, which lied on a desk in the middle of a room, along with a simple communication device, the area was completely barren. There was, also, a clipboard which looked fit for taking notes.

The man took a seat at the head of the table, grabbing the clipboard in his hands, and she took the other.

"We will give all teams one minute to get situated, and then the organizers will explain the task."

She nodded, doing her best to meditate silently and rid herself of the nerves hanging off of her.

It didn't take terribly long before an intercom above her, which was a simple grate in the ceiling, buzzed to life, and a familiar voice echoed out into the room.

"Hello, hello!" Naruto Uzumaki's voice flooded the space. "Welcome to the Chuunin Exams! This is the first test of the joint Leaf-Sand Exams, which will be starting right now. I will first ask you to listen in on our directions, as they will be imperative to your understanding of the test. After they're over, you will have five minutes to decipher the code, and complete the exam. This will test your teamwork, your skills at information gathering and dissemination, and your ability to function under pressure."

Ino swallowed on some spit in her mouth, trying to maintain an aura of calm.

_Five minutes? _She found herself questioning. _It fits how long the others were taking, but what could we be doing that would only take that long?_

"Here is your scenario." Sakura's voice chimed in across the speaker, and she found a warmth in her chest at hearing her friend, even if they'd not been hanging out as much recently. "You and your team have captured three enemy shinobi. These shinobi carry a vital code, one that will unlock the seal on a scroll they posses, and allow you and your compatriots to learn the antidote to the poison you've been inflicted with. You must gather the code out of the ninjas in front of you before five minutes pass, and you perish."

Ino nodded, looking up into the face of the man before her, which revealed nothing.

"Your task is simple." This time, it was the voice of Sasuke. "Once this announcement ends, the ninja opposite you will tell you a simple poem. Within that poem, disguised among it's words, is the code. You are welcome to guess words until the sun sets in the sky, but you should probably know that every incorrect guess reduces your allotted time by one minute."

"If you run out of time… you lose." Sakura finished the boy's speech, the whole arrangement sounding heavily practiced. "The three of you will be read _separate_ poems. The only thing all poems will share is a single word. That word is different from all the other words in the poems, because it will be the only one to be present _three _times. Once in each poem."

"There are multiple words in each poem meant to lead you astray from the true 'code' word." Naruto continued on. "Some words will appear twice, some will appear only once. Some words will appear two, three, or any number of times in only your story, but these are not the words you're looking for either. Your job is to identify which word is the true 'code' word by speaking with your teammates over the communicators in front of you. The problem, of course, is that it's not quite that simple."

"Your communicators are one way." Sasuke announced. "They can only contact one other teammate and cannot respond to any of your teammates. Look up at the wall in front of you."

Ino did. In front of her, hanging on the wall, as a painted on '2'.

"Room 3 can communicate only with room 2. Room 2 can communicate only with room 1. And room 1 can communicate only with room 3." Sakura summarized. "You will need to decipher just which line is the code. You may do this by studying facial expressions of the man before you, which will be difficult, but not technically impossible, or, more likely, you will need to communicate as best you can with your teammates, spread your information net, and capture your vital 'code'."

"When you have captured the code, you will all three of you need to speak it to the ninja's before you. If you're correct, they will end the exam. If you are incorrect, one minute will be deducted from you." Naruto spoke, and she could hear the cocky smile on his face. "The only way you can lose is by running out of time. Now, you will be read your poems."

"**Good Luck!**" All three of their voices echoed, before the speaker went dead.

Ino took a deep breath as the ninja before her closed his eyes, cleared his throat, and then began to speak.

"The high mountains of distant Kumo are heavy with rain and sleet this time of year. Snows atop its peaks are not uncommon either, and become a welcome sight for those in villages below. Festivals are held, and kites flow freely across winter skies. Truly, it is heralded as a time of grand splendor, and one of good tidings across all Lightning Countries."

The man opened his eyes, and then looked up to her. He brought a timer from out of his pocket and set it down in front of him. It was a simple thing, with bold letters inside of it, and a few red lights atop it.

"Your time…" He clicked the device. "Begins now."

Immediately, she held her hands out in front of her.

"Mind Transfer Jutsu!"

Her body slunk across the table in front of her, but she wasn't worried about that.

She traveled as far into the man's mind as she could, determined to blitz through this exam to find the answer to their riddle. Unfortunately, when she arrived, she was greeted by a very unwelcome sight.

_"Shit." _She muttered quietly. _"That's one of dad's."_

Clearly, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura hadn't wanted to make this easy for her, or anyone who shared a Jutsu like hers. The mental protection on the guard in front of her, and likely every other one, here had been placed by her father, Inoichi Yamanaka. She recognized the handiwork of the man who'd taught her everything she knew.

And there was no way a Chuunin, let alone a Genin cresting on the edge of becoming one, had any hope of removing it.

4:47

She returned to her body, content, at least, that she'd tried, before she took a deep breath.

_Okay… focus… we're fine._

A moment later, the speaker beside her rang into life.

"Ino. It's Choji." Her friends voice echoed out. "Shikamaru told me to tell you that he's going to be leading this. Says no time for arguments, so just be subservient to him for once." She heard him awkwardly pause. "His words, not mine, so don't kill me later."

She snorted but didn't bother. Shikamaru was right, it was better for him to take charge early if this was going to be a riddle.

"I got it, Shikamaru." She held down the button beside her, knowing that while Choji wouldn't hear her, he would. "We'll be having words later though."

4:28

She waited an agonizing three or four seconds before Choji's voice called out again.

"Ino, Shikamaru says to go through words that stand out first. I'm to tell you mine, and then you compare with yours, eliminating any that don't meet the criteria."

She nodded, before realizing there wasn't much point.

"Island, Palms, Lightning," She recognized the word from her own poem. "Storm, Rain," Another. "Tigers, Festival." She nodded there. "Death, Rebirth, Kumo," She bit her lip. This was nerve-wracking. "And Village."

She nodded, immediately she isolated all the words that she recognized from her own poem, and tossed the others aside. She was a ninja, so even though she'd had nothing to write her own poem down, she'd been able to memorize it instantly.

Or at least, she hoped she had.

4:10

"Shikamaru, here's the list." She spoke. "Repeated words: Lightning, Rain, Festival, Kumo, and Village."

She waited another ten seconds, biting her nails in a fit of anxious energy.

Choji's voice came back excited.

"Shikamaru says the word is Festival!"

Her eyes widened, and she looked at the man in front of her, practically shouting the word at him.

"Festival!"

The man paused for a moment, humming.

"You have had one minute deducted." He said calmly, taking off a single minute, and bringing their time from 3:49 to 2:49.

She just about choked.

"That wasn't it!" She shouted into the device, practically panicking, and Choji's voice came into hers just as garbled. He'd screamed the exact same thing to her.

"S-shit, what do we-"

"Shut up!" Choji suddenly shouted.

Her eyes bugged out.

_Did Choji just–_

"Sorry, Shikamaru said that'd quiet you down quick."

She pressed her hand on her own speaker again.

"Reeaaaaal harsh words." She promised the Nara boy, before sighing. "Alright, I'm listening."

Five more seconds. 2:27

"Shikamaru says look at Festival again. Is there anything odd about it?"

She did and felt crestfallen as she observed it.

"My word is Festival**_s_**" She clarified to Shikamaru, wanting to slap herself. "That's on me. I'm sorry."

Another bout of silence. 2:19

"Shikamaru says to read him your entire poem. Recite it word for word."

She nodded, doing so.

The line went silent for at least twenty seconds, and during that time she found dread building in the core of her stomach. She wished there'd been water for them to drink, but this was trying to simulate an interrogation where their lives were on the line, not a fun little conversation between friends.

1:50

_Shit… shit, shit! _She had her head in her hands as she looked down at the desk below her, letting Shikamaru work. _If I didn't make that stupid mistake… we wouldn't–_

"On an island in the distant meadows, rife with palms and beastly tigers, lies a Storm heavier than any seen. Lightning courses through skies dark and hazy, and they bring death to all caught in their wake. Yet rains that follow bring rebirth, falling from clouds, hanging in skies above, and many villages hold a festival of Celebration in old Kumo when these waters fall."

Her eyes widened as she caught onto something. Choji hadn't properly put his own word in either.

_Villages… Wait, why the hell am I thinking about this, to make myself feel better!?_

She slapped herself along the face, and briefly simmered as she listened to Choji continue.

"That's mine, but Shikamaru wanted you to both pass that along to him, since I can't, and then listen to his as well. See if you notice something."

She nodded, passing along Choji's poem over her communicator, before settling in to listen to Shikamaru's.

1:13

"And so, it was in olden times, when snows gathered on windowsills, that men and women far and wide would exit their homes and come together to hold a grand festival. Often storms would hold them back, and it was said ferocious beasts, great eagles, and wild tigers roamed throughout the lands. Still, in spite of this, people gathered, and helped one another to prosper."

She nodded, already wracking her brain.

0:52

_Gods it's so difficult to remember three complicated ass poems at once…_

0:49

_Snows is out… not in Choji's… Storms isn't in mine… wait, we did this already, agh!_

0:43

A thought came to her. A thought so treacherously evil that she couldn't help but instantly know it was something Team 7 would've come up with. Well, two of their members specifically. She looked down at the desk before her and began rifling through the poems once more.

0:31

_I think… I think I…_

_"On an island in the distant meadows, rife…"_

_"The high mountains of distant Kumo…"_

_"…and it was said ferocious beasts, great eagles, and wild tigers roamed throughout the lands."_

Her eyes widened, and she slammed her hand down on her button, shouting into the communicator.

"IT'S 'THE'" She screamed out. "The code word is 'The'!"

She trusted Shikamaru to pass that along and looked up towards the man in front of her.

"I have deciphered the code!" She said just a bit more forcefully than she would've normally. "The code word is 'The'."

The man across from her said nothing as he looked at the watch in front of them. For just a moment, Ino feared they'd gotten the word wrong, that _she'd _gotten the word wrong, and because of her, they'd failed.

Then, one of the three red lights on the man's timer turned green, and the other two followed.

The clock stopped at 0:20.

The ninja before them looked up to her with a smile.

"Congratulations." He spoke to her, and she felt a rasping breath leave her body before she could stop herself. "You've passed the first test of the Chuunin Exams."

She slumped down in her seat as the man continued to speak.

"We'll be waiting out the rest of the timer, though we were close enough that it shouldn't be long. Once I get the okay from the others, you'll be let out."

She nodded, and the man actually laughed.

"It's funny, your father's intervention was only called in last night."

She perked up at that.

"The pink-haired girl… Sakura I think, she realized that if anyone had an ability like yours, one that could alter the mind of the examiner, they could circumvent the test. They were here setting it up, and suddenly blondie just started screaming in panic at the thought of their hard work being wasted." The man laughed good-naturedly. "Inoichi got called in, but, eh, we decided to make it possible. If they could get past the seal, they could've gotten it, but only for someone vastly far ahead."

She snorted.

"For someone at like Kage level, maybe." She joked. "To break one of my dad's mental seals… you'd be there a while even with the skill to do it."

The man aside from her laughed, before he stood up.

"Alright, you're good to go. I feel I shouldn't need to say anything, but don't go telling anyone the answer. It wouldn't make for much of a test otherwise… oh, and you'd fail instantly."

"So, the codes the same for every test?"

"No, there're five codes. Three in use and two back-ups." The man explained as they walked to the door. "But if we lost one… well, it would be annoying, so don't."

She laughed and held her hands up in surrender as her team emerged from their rooms. Choji shot her a smile and a thumbs-up, while Shikamaru waved lazily. She glared at the latter, while the former simply stepped out of her way, letting her pass.

She didn't miss Shikamaru's hissed whisper of "traitor!" aimed towards the portly boy, but he simply smiled genially as Ino caught up to him.

"So… I should be subservient, yeah!?"

Shikamaru laughed, terrified.

"S-sorry?"

"Yes." She spoke mirthlessly. "That is the proper response."

A harsh gasp drew their attention, and Ino turned to see Kiba, Shino, and Hinata all panting dramatically. Hell, Kiba and Akamaru were laying prone on the ground.

"We got it… we did it…" Hinata wheezed out.

"With… one second left." Kiba shuddered, as did his dog above him. "That… that was…

"Even I will admit," Shino pushed up his glasses, and even he was breathing a little heavy. "That was a bit too close for comfort."

She turned back to their team, and was suddenly thankful she'd managed to get the clue before they'd gone into single digits.

She wasn't sure her heart would've survived that.

/-/

Ino watched with a small laugh as Team Matsuri stepped into the hall victorious, making various hand signals and patting each other on the back.

"I… I can't believe you actually guessed it, Yukata!" Matsuri shouted excitedly to her teammate. "I mean… we were barely a second into the exam, how did you know it was-"

"Shh!" The girl's only male teammate, some guy she hadn't caught the name of, placed a hand over her mouth. "We fail if we say anything!"

Matsuri mumbled something into the boys hand, causing Ino to giggle once more. The guard off to the left made an 'I'm watching you' gesture, pointing it at the three of them.

They flinched away, whimpering.

"By the way, Ino…" Shikamaru whispered. "You got that it was 'the', right? How'd you figure that out?"

She got what he meant. The human brain just sort of… glossed over words it was used to seeing. Ones like 'storms', or 'village', or 'tiger' of course stood out more than 'the', and thusly became the only thing one noticed.

That was exactly why she'd caught it.

"Because I remembered who was behind this test." She sighed out. "Naruto was one of the people planning it. Helping him was Sakura, and Sasuke was there too. Naruto provides the devious idea, Sakura refines it, and Sasuke's there to trim the fat away and perfect it."

Shikamaru breathed out exhaustively.

"That does sound like them."

As if sensing they were being talked about, the exam planners stepped out into the main hall, looking rather pleased with themselves.

"Welp, that's the first stage of the joint Leaf-Sand Chuunin Exams finished!" Naruto shouted, and Ino found herself convinced that he was probably being told to say 'joint Leaf-Sand Chuunin Exams' as often as he possibly could."Congratulations to those of you who solved the question! You've sucessfuly saved yourselves from dying of poison in a fictional setting!"

Two or three people laughed. A lot more people glared. Naruto's grin faltered ever so slightly.

"As you may have figured out, all code words used in this test were those meant to blend in." Sasuke stepped up, taking over for Naruto. "Words like 'The', 'was', and 'their'. These words were surrounded by others that stood out far more, and often placed in spots purposefully designed to avoid being seen. You who looked past this illusion, who were able to separate the truth from the lies, have passed the first stage of the exam."

Naruto moved forward, smiling a bit sadly.

"We're going to be moving onto the second stage now, but for those of you who've failed, we've got separate instructions for you."

A good third of the room looked down at the floor, and though Ino didn't feel bad, per se, she did feel at the least empathetic. It would've sucked to travel to a new village, likely taking a four or five day journey if one wasn't rushing, and fail within fifteen minutes of the test actually starting.

"Those of you from out of the country will be escorted back to your villages by your Jonin Sensei's. If you did not travel here with one, you will be escorted back instead by one of our Jonin."

Ino raised an eyebrow at that, a bit surprised. It wasn't like the ninja villages to watch out for others, but she supposed that might just be those three in particular.

They were soft. In a nice way, of course.

"For the rest of you, the remainder of your challenge begins now."

Sasuke stepped up and began speaking.

"You will be traveling alongside one another to the Village Hidden in the Sands. We had a fairly decent pass rating, but unfortunately for us, and perhaps fortunately for you, a good 65% of you still made it through our first test."

A couple of teams nodded to one another, smirking at their victory.

"We will now rectify this."

The smirking stopped.

Sakura stepped up this time, her trench coat and hair flapping behind her as she gave everyone a second to begin dreading what she'd say. Hell, She and Ino were best friends, and even she was having some doubts.

"As their were 19 teams who passed our exam, to bring your numbers back within the acceptable ranges, we'll need to drop…" The girl hummed as she counted them, probably just for the fear factor. "Three more."

A few Genin gulped, even as more took a step back.

"So, a simple race!" Naruto shouted out. "The first three teams to arrive in the Village Hidden in the Sands will receive an incredible boon that will aid them in the next stage of the exam!" He let his words hang for a moment, before an almost manic grin came over his features. "The last three teams to arrive… are eliminated from the competition!"

She followed the other Genin's example, forcing calm into her features. A second later, her eyes widened, and she turned to Shikamaru and Choji, nodding towards them.

They raced towards the door.

"What the hell are you doing!?" She heard one team call. "They're still giving directions!"

"What do you mean?" Sasuke Uchiha sounded almost smug as he tilted his head. "We just said this is a race. No one will announce the beginning. This is a part of the second exam, which began the moment you finished your first tests. In fact, there may even be a few students already out of Leaf Country by now."

_Dammit! _Ino found herself swearing, pushing open the door and out into the crisp winter air. _I knew those bastards in Team Guy were up to something! They were already heading to the Sand ahead of time!_

As they booked it down the street, eager to get ahead of the competition while they still could, Ino heard one last thing shouted out by Naruto.

"Oh! And as long as you don't kill each other…?" She could almost hear the boy smile. "Sabotage is both allowed…"

"And encouraged!"

**End Chapter 60**

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**Another week, another chapter of Trip Down a Hill.**

**Happy with this one, and even happier with my made up exam. I think it worked out really well, honestly. If you've got any comments on that, feel free to share, I love criticism, positive or negative! (Also if there are any mistakes in my test feel free to point those out, like another word that would satisfy the criteria!)  
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**Alright, that's all from me. I'll see you all next week!**


	61. Chapter 61

**For some odd reason, I edited chapter 62 before this chapter... not really sure why.**

**Anyways, without further ado, GUH!**

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**Chapter 61: Advertising Pains and a Guilty Conscience **

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"Team spotted!" Lee's shouted out in an exuberant voice, shooting her an expectant look. "Tenten, you have them?"

She smirked, already drawing the massive scroll from off her back out in front of her, and flipping her body around. She jumped backwards, and trusted her team to point her in the right direction as she dealt with their pursuers.

"I do!"

The mottled soil below them had turned to sandy dunes a few hours ago. According to Neji, that meant they were just a bit past halfway there. Tenten found herself paying the most attention to the difference in climate, given that, if anything, the lack of any fauna around them meant the winter nights in the dessert were far colder than they were back in the Leaf.

Honestly, though, she'd had enough of crawling through snowy forests on her mission under Sasuke. She'd take the colder weather as long as that _white garbage_ stayed behind in the Leaf Village.

She finally caught sight of the three ninjas chasing them. She didn't recognize them, some unimportant team from the sand, but if they thought they were making it there before _their team, _and taking _their reward?_

They were sorely mistaken.

She fired off a good hundred or so weapons as a warning shot, waiting to see if the team would drop back, give up on overtaking them. Instead, their leader, presumably, drew his palms together, and a wall of wind shot out from him, deflecting the weapons, and sending them spiraling into the sand around him.

Tenten almost laughed at the cocky expression the boy gave, as if asking 'that all you got?'.

_Oh, don't worry. _She almost wanted to shout.

_You'll see in a second._

/-/

Hinata wasn't quite sure if they were making good pace or not.

Sure, Kiba kept telling them they were, in fact, according to him, there were only four or five teams ahead of them, but…

She just couldn't see it. There had to be a few more Genin teams better than them… right?

_No! _She shook her head, dispelling her self-doubt as best she could. _That's how I used to think! Now I… Now I've got my team, and Neji's team, and father, and sister. And… and Naruto!_

She activated her Byakugan, observing their surroundings without even needing to turn her head. From what she could see, there weren't any threats around them, aside from Team Asuma, who were just a bit beyond their position. She couldn't see terribly far, perhaps a kilometer in all directions, but it was a good radar system, and Kiba's idea of turning it on every so often to check for enemies was a solid one.

None had shown themselves so far, so they resolved to pick up the pace, and catch up to their fellow Leaf ninjas.

It wasn't a particularly quick journey, taking them a good hour and a half to cover the space between them, and that was largely due to the fact that speeding up even a little past their comfortable pace would have consequences later. Their bodies had grown used to a particular speed, and pushing them beyond it…

Wasn't necessarily a great long term plan.

Still, they'd be able to relax in a moment, for they could see Shikamaru and his team just ahead.

Though, maybe it was a sign of just how weird her life was, because when Choji reared up and tried to attack them with a massive fist, she simply sighed.

They jumped backwards, trailing, but not quite falling back.

"What the hell was that, you all!?" Kiba shouted at them, and with how piercing his voice was, Hinata had no doubt they'd heard it. "Oi!"

"I don't recall the proctor's saying anything about working together!" Shikamaru grinned back at them. "In fact, as the people currently taking up the number three spot, I think we have every reason to prevent you from coming any closer!"

_"The first three teams to arrive in the Village Hidden in the Sands will receive an incredible boon!_ _The last three teams to arrive… are eliminated from the competition!" _

She remembered Naruto's words, even if they sent a shiver down her spine. If they managed to fall behind significantly…

It was a long walk home.

"Hinata!"

The voice that addressed her was firm in its conviction, and she turned to see Shino shooting her a calming smile.

"It's alright." He said, seemingly having read her mind. "You don't have to worry about a thing. Even if you were to falter, we'd pick you back up."

She made to open her mouth, to say something, but found her teeth clicking shut instead, shaking her head as a small laugh bubbled out of her mouth.

She nodded back at him, just in time to see Kiba let out a proud snarl.

"Alright!" Their de-facto leader shouted out, looking back towards Shikamaru. "We're overtaking these bastards! I don't know about you, but I don't much feel like losing, and a 'boon' sounds awfully nice right about now!"

She smiled, as did Shino. They both felt much the same.

"Shino, bugs at the ready, see if you can get a few hundred in front of them, slow them down!"

"Mm."

"Akamaru!" He called to the dog just off to his left, who ran along beside them.

"Arf!" The creature called back.

"Change into me. Let's see how they like a good old wolf-fang-over-fang!"

"Hrf!" The dog growled back, and one puff of white smoke later, the dog had transformed into Kiba, running along beside him.

"Hinata!"

"Yes?"

"Another Byakugan sweep! After that, I'm counting on you to have my back! Shino, after her, it's you!"

The both of them nodded, and she activated her eyes.

They widened almost instantly.

"Three figures, coming up fast!" She shouted, turning behind them, where, sure enough, three figures flew above the desert sands, gaining on them quickly.

It was… the green haired girl she'd seen briefly at the exam. She was… carrying her teammates below her!?

Despite the precarious positioning, neither looked particularly worried. If anything, they looked a bit beleaguered, having to put up with the much younger girl above them, who was fairly clearly having the time of her life, swinging her head back and forth as if she were listening to some music. She was flying thanks to some impossibly thin wings emerging from her back, which seemed to almost resemble an insects.

Before Hinata even realized what was happening, the three had flown by overhead, overtaking them in but a moment. It seemed the same could be said for Team Asuma, for they could do nothing but watch as the strange, bug-like girl and her team flew by them, before disappearing over the horizon a mere five minutes later.

Kiba summed their thoughts up rather succinctly.

"What the fuck was that!?"

/-/

_"All clear on our end." _A staticky voice echoed out from the piece on Naruto's collar, which he gripped with his left hand, lifting it up to listen just a bit better to the words. _"No signs of foul play, but that team from the Waterfall's certainly making strides. They cut ahead seven places in the last hour."_

"Impressive, but no cause for concern." Sasuke called back to the security team in charge of their western flank. They were being led by a man Naruto didn't know. "Monitor them, but don't worry about it too terribly."

_"Understood, sir."_

The piece on Sasuke's lapel went dead, and he let out a weary sigh as he looked over at Naruto, barely eking out a smile for his sake.

"This whole security business is… harder than I'd expected."

Both he and Sakura let out exasperated breaths at that, before refocusing in on the horizon.

_Yeah… Tsunade could've given us a bit more information than 'in charge'._

Because as it turned out, in charge didn't mean delegating that authority to others with more experience. Oh no, that wouldn't allow them to grow as leaders at all. Instead, Naruto and the rest of Team 7 had the illustrious job of deciding each and every decision their security teams made, who, what, when, where, why and how.

It was… well, overwhelming was underselling it a bit.

_"This is east flank." _Haku's voice cut into Naruto's thoughts like a knife, refocusing him just in time to avoid tripping over a particularly tall sand dune. _"Keeping our eyes on the front-most competitors. Team Guy seem like they will arrive within the Sand Village in above three hours, under four."_

That was pretty insane, at least as far as Naruto could hazard to guess. They were expected to be pretty fast, Chuunin the lot of them, but with those three's head start, it looked like they might actually manage to beat them there, given they were still five or six hours out at their pace.

_"South flank." _Another voice, this one belonging to Tsume Inuzuka, called casually. _"Nothing to report. The last place team has officially crossed into Sand territory. Pulling up the line to the desert's entrance."_

"Understood." Naruto called back, before flicking his communicator back off.

_"North Flank, our Waterfall team has officially caught up with Team Guy." _The man who reported that, who, once again, Naruto hadn't known, let out a small laugh, sounding almost excited. _"Man, that team from the sand that they shook off earlier ain't backing down neither! Oh shit, is that– It is! Team Kurenai and Team Asuma seem to be fighting as well! They're competing for the top three spots, too! Damn, shit's really getting-"_

"Might I remind you we're not here to gawk, Homer?" Sakura's voice came through scarily firm, even into Naruto's own communicator. It sounded even more terrifying in person, coming from three feet behind him. "Do your job first, then you can worry about 'interesting fights', understood?"

_Well. _Naruto couldn't help thinking. _Seems like Sakura knows this guy._

There was a pause, where the only sounds were the kicks of sand and dirt flying as Team 7 and a few of their personal guard skipped along the desert wastes.

_"Roger that, ma'am."_

"That's what I thought."

Naruto gulped as he heard the sound of Sakura switching off her communicator, gritting her teeth as she let out a growling sigh.

"I refuse to let those bastards up front watch the Genin fight!"

"We understand, ma'am." A ninja off to her left sounded out, nodding to her. "It's highly unprofessional behavior. If you want, one of us could take over for him-"

"No, no! It's fine." Sakura waved her hands in front of her, grumbling as she turned back to look ahead of her. "Honestly, it's just not fair."

Naruto and Sasuke both nodded, even as the Jonin beside them seemed to grow rather confused, retaking his formation.

_Yeah, how dare they!_ Naruto wanted to shout to the heavens. _We worked for a month, gave blood, sweat, tears, and more sweat to this project…_

He gazed ahead of him, where nothing but a vast ocean of desert seemed to stretch out endlessly towards the horizon.

"So how come they get to have all the fun, while we're stuck staring at sand!?"

He looked down at the ground, before realizing everyone was looking at him.

A few of the Anbu were snickering quietly to themselves.

"I said that out loud, didn't I?"

He cringed slightly as both of his best friends nodded.

/-/

Ino watched, a bit bemusedly, as the sixteenth, and therefore final, team stepped into the small section reserved for them.

Team Matsuri cheered as they laid on the ground, utterly spent.

"We… did it!" The dopey one, Yukata, shouted out.

"I… I want to die…" Their leader helpfully supplied.

She was fairly sure the lone male of the group was dead.

No, wait, small movement in his left arm.

Only mostly dead then.

"And that's that!" A voice called from the front of the cordoned off area, a young man dressed in an orange jump suit, with black trimmings running along it, and a beaming smile as he took them all in. Naruto waved at her, and she rolled her eyes. "You sixteen teams have succeeded in passing the first stage of the Chuunin Exams."

The three teams who'd failed, two from the Leaf that Ino didn't know, and one from the sand, who'd all yet to arrive, were out of the competition. Even still, with the threat of failure hanging over her, she didn't relax, though she did wave silently to Haku, who blushed and nodded to her. It was evident that the men behind him thought that action a bit at odds with how he normally acted, for they all shot him appraising looks, as if not quite expecting him to be the shy type.

Which made sense, given he didn't exactly show it to anyone else.

He put up a hard exterior, mimicking a particular ninja when it came to acting tough. In reality, he was a real sweetie, and one who should've been allowed to deal with the problems plaguing him long, long ago.

She bit down on the inside of her lip, trying to keep the guilt within her down.

It was always easier than she expected, and, in turn, she always felt worse off for it.

"For now, rest, and relax." Sakura's voice sounded out, and she could hear the amusement in it as she looked over the Genin. "The second test here in the Sand is far more difficult than the one we posed for you, so do yourselves a favor and prepare."

She gulped, sighing out as Sakura turned back towards the other three and laughed at some joke they told. Seeing the three like that, it was easy to forget the times when she and the other Genin around them had once been considered their equals. A hell of a long time had passed since then, and the gap between them had only grown.

_Must be nice to be strong. _She huffed.

_"And look at you! You're of a prestigious ninja family, you have a hidden art! You can be just as good as any of them with a bit of work, can't you!?"_

She grimaced as she heard Sakura's words from way back when play as if on a tape in her head, even while the proctors for the second test, almost all of them sand ninja, escorted them into a nearby hotel.

She didn't want to acknowledge her friend as right, even if, realistically, she knew she was, because that wouldn't have proven her point at all. Honestly, there was a part of her that wanted to just lay down and sloth away the rest of her life, if only to somehow 'prove' that she couldn't do it, that she was destined to be a failure, to be weak.

So, she'd have some reason to shout at Sakura.

She shook her head, dispelling her thoughts as she answered some vague question from Shikamaru. She took the chance to observe the area around them and was rather surprised at what she found.

The hotel wasn't shoddy, nor was it cheap or budgeted. If anything, it looked incredibly high-end, for the banquet hall they entered had two twin tables, each large enough to easily sit fifty people each. If she hazarded a guess, she'd have said that Genin would take one, and the proctors and organizers would take another.

"Your exam will begin in three days' time!" Sasuke shouted out to them from his spot near the back of the room, before he stepped to the side, revealing a staircase he'd been stood in front of. "For now, however, I will ask you to please listen to a word from the current interim Kazekage, and also one of the main organizers of the Joint Leaf-Sand exams, Temari."

No one clapped as the woman walked up, but, then again, it wasn't really expected.

Still, Ino could admit that she cut a mean figure. She was wearing the Kazekage habit, a simple white cloth draped around her neck, but it was the hat that really sold the look. Along with that, she'd matured her normal wear as well, into a black outfit which clashed pleasingly with the rest of her ensemble.

All in all, she looked both powerful and important, aided as well by the massive iron fan slung along her back.

"Thank you to our allies from the Leaf, first and foremost, for organizing a fantastic first stage of the exams." Temari shot an honest smile over towards Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke, who all looked generally proud of themselves. "They have graciously agreed to continue providing support for the upcoming second, and third exams. Before you are allowed to refill and rest tonight, I feel I must first go over with you just what will be expected of you in this second exam."

Ino stood a bit straighter, as did most of the people around her in the crowd. A boring speech was one thing, but a boring speech _with _some information?

That changed things.

"Your task is simple. You will be unleashed into the nearby desert wilderness for an entire week." Temari explained. "during that week, you will be tasked with surviving the harsh climates that you'll be faced with, and, perhaps more importantly, both the flora and fauna that reside within."

She nodded at that. It sounded like a pain in the ass, but a pain in the ass that wouldn't necessarily be a problem, either. Honestly, it kind of sounded eas–

"However, there will be complications, of course."

_Ah, my bad, guys. _She internally slapped herself. _Shouldn't have thought that until she was finished._

"Your teams, all sixteen of you, will have to contend with a 'dangerous ninja', who's been 'tracking you and your squad for weeks'." The Kazekage explained, turning towards Team 7 once again. "This idea was provided to us by our gracious friends from the Leaf, who saw fit to add another complication to this stage of the exams."

Ino gagged, partially because they were _reeeaaally _hammering home this whole cooperation thing, and also because Sakura and Team 7 had once again made her life more difficult.

They owed her more than a few nights spent helping her wrap her damned bouquets.

"This dangerous ninja will be a single Jonin, either from the Leaf Village, or the Sand Village, who's been personally assigned to your team specifically."

That… was beginning to sound rather difficult. Off to the side, she saw Zaku and his team shift slightly, even if they still looked decently confident.

"You may deal with them in any way you see fit, aside from killing them, as, mind you, we'd rather like to have them back." She earned a few bits of laughter here and there. "Capture them, tie them up, or just avoid them for the full seven days. Whatever it is you wish to do, you may do it."

The woman cleared her throat before speaking again.

"Those three who arrived in the village first, Team's Guy, Fu, and Asuma," Ino gave a smirk of absolute victory as Kiba glared at them. "Will be given a rather stark advantage over the other thirteen. They will not only know the identity of the Jonin following them but will be able to spar against them for an entire day in the nearby training arena, whilst the other teams battle it out in the hot desert air. Those three teams need only spend six days in the desert, rather than seven."

She pumped her fist, eager to see the advantage they'd worked their butts off to receive was actually worth something.

"Though we will be handling things slightly differently in this second stage." The interim Kazekage continued. "Teams will be forbidden from attacking one another. This is not to test your ability to out-think your fellows, but a measure to place you up against one another, to test your abilities in a vacuum. The third test, the last stage of the exam, will be testing your capabilities in battle against other teams. Until then, I'd advise you all that cooler heads will prevail."

"And with that, I do believe we've covered everything." Temari spoke again, smiling at them in a disarmingly nice way. "I will leave it to our esteemed proctor's to take things from here. I wish you all the best of luck with the upcoming exams."

She inclined her head ever so slightly, a show of humility that was, while unnecessary, surely rather popular. She heard an all-male team of Sand Genin sigh dreamily as she exited the room.

She couldn't really blame them either.

The proctors, surprisingly enough _not _Team 7, began organizing them rather easily. The Sand hopefuls had their own floor of the hotel, while the Leaf visitors and those from all other countries took the second floor. The proctors and organizers would share the third and final floor, while security would be interspersed throughout.

They were led to their space on the second floor without much commotion, and it was explained to them that meals would be served at specific times during the day. As they'd arrived third out of the teams, they were given room 3 on their floor. Team Guy took room 1, and Team Fu took room 2. Ino didn't miss that the green-haired girl, presumably Fu, despite having seemingly carried her entire team here, looked amped up, jumping up and down in excitement as her teammates smiled indulgently, if not in a bit of a beleaguered way.

Once they were inside their room, Ino finally allowed herself to unwind. The day had been exhausting, finishing up their travels to the Sand that they had started two days prior. They'd honestly underestimated the trip, and only through a complicated mix of calculated rests, avoiding other teams, and sheer dumb luck had let them come out ahead.

_I… I may perish. _She thought with an aching groan, finally able to feel just how spent she was. _My legs… feel like jelly._

She turned to her right, taking in the rest of their room now that she could actually think to focus on it.

It was a quaint space, uncomplicated, if not undeniably nice. The walls were a rather predictable cream color, though, with the setting, they seemed to resemble more sand than anything. At the front of the room, on a dresser evidently meant to hold their clothing and other accessories, was a communicator with a note next to it, presumably call signs for the rest of the hotel, should they need them.

At the back of the room lay three beds, one of which she was currently laid on. Choji had taken the one by the entrance, which left Shikamaru the middle bed. She didn't envy him that position, given that he'd be caught between Choji, a heavy snorer, and herself, who had a bad habit of reacting poorly to Choji being a heavy snorer.

_Eh, not my problem._

She watched as Shikamaru winced slightly as he massaged his legs. He was, most likely, dealing with the pain therewithin now, so that tomorrow, he'd be able to move far more freely than if he'd left them alone.

She wanted to protest, to think such a thing foolish… but she knew it was a good idea. She sighed as she reached down and began working her fingers through her throbbing flesh, trying to avoid thinking about the harsh pains echoing out from it.

_We're here to win. _She reminded herself. _That means doing everything in our power to be as strong as we can be._

A little bit of pain now was nothing compared to the trouble they could find themselves in if she were to collapse during the test. Well, not like such a thing would happen, she'd brought a few food pills with her specifically designed to help deal with cramping muscles, but she hadn't wanted to break such things out so early.

Still, it wouldn't hurt to have a look at herself, maybe fix her make-up just to have something to do. She reached over for her bag–

…

It took her a moment to see a problem.

"Hey, guys?" She looked towards her teammates, hoping beyond all hope she'd merely made a mistake. "You didn't see me leave my bag somewhere earlier, did you?"

Choji put his hand on his chin, thinking about it, but Shikamaru merely eyed her warily, like he was too tired to be dealing with this.

"Bag?" He muttered, before shaking his head and leaning back on his bed. "You didn't bring a bag."

_But… I packed a bag! _She could remember having done so; she'd even gone so far as to set it by her door so she wouldn't–

The truth struck her a second later.

Oh, she knew where her bag was. In fact, if she'd cared to, she could've told her teammates exactly where she could find it. It was sitting by the door, in a place she wouldn't forget it, back at her house in the Leaf Village.

She sighed as she placed her head in her hands.

"Damnit…"

/-/

A day of their allotted break passed by in relative quiet. There'd been a few minor hiccups, a desert beast that'd attacked their hotel, but it'd been put down remarkably quickly by the green-haired girl named Fu.

Zaku couldn't help but think she was hiding something, especially when her teammates, two adult males who all three of them agreed were disguising some major power, dragged the girl away and out of the room. It wasn't exactly kicking and screaming, in fact, Fu had been laughing merrily, clearly having quite the grand old time dealing with sand monsters and making friends.

Well, 'friends' was a pretty blanket term, given that she'd walked up to and introduced herself to just about every other Genin so far, including their team. She and Dosu had, funnily enough, hit it off decently well, especially when she'd told him she knew a few sound-based techniques.

It was honestly a weirdly heart-warming scene to see Dosu getting on with somebody outside their team – and gods, if the man ever figured out he'd used the term 'heart-warming' in the same sentence as him, he was fairly sure he'd quickly be separated from his own heart – but the encounter had been relatively short-lived, with Fu returning back to the safety of her team not long into it.

"They're cordoning her off for some reason." He could remember Kin saying. "I think the 'why' is the important thing here."

Still, it wasn't like it was their business. They were doing much the same thing as Team Fu as well, staying separated from the other teams, lest they reveal anything about themselves that might assist an enemy squad.

Even if that Temari chick had basically expressly stated there was to be no violence between teams, Zaku trusted that about as much as he'd trusted Orochimaru to protect the three of them during their last exams. A lot of things could happen outside the eyes and ears of the proctors, and he'd be damned if he were the reason his team got sunk.

"What do you think Team 7 are up to?" Kin asked him as they sat around on the second night, casually conversing over a bowl of dates they were splitting between the three of them. "I haven't seen them much at all."

"I'm sure they're just busy." Dosu responded idly as he flicked one of the fruits into his mouth. "They are helping organize this thing."

"Eh, I guess."

"Missing Sakura?" Zaku asked innocently enough, earning him a light slap on the arm for his trouble. "Y'know, we're not bad guys anymore, we can be honest with our feelings now."

Kin shot him a glare that had him cracking up.

"You feel free to be all fruity and flowery," Kin mocked him, even if there was no fire in it. "The rest of us aren't going to act like you."

"Hey, me being 'fruity and flowery' saved the both of your lives, I don't wanna' hear it."

"Both?" Dosu raised an eyebrow at him. actually, he raised two eyebrows at him, since he'd taken to unwrapping his face recently, keeping the bandages in his bag in case he needed them, instead of as a fashion statement. "You do realize _I _was completely fine, yes?"

"Yeah, sure, hold onto that." He smarmed, unable to understand why the two couldn't just say how they felt for once in their lives. "Seriously though, Team 7 were rushing around earlier. I'd say there's something up, but they didn't look too worried."

"That's… concerning." Kin spoke absently, revealing just a bit of what went on in her head. He didn't comment, despite thinking calling her out on it might be worth a laugh. Wasn't worth her closing up again.

"Hopefully, they're not overworking themselves."

/-/

Naruto laughed, nay, cackled as Sasuke's expression fell. The boy in front of him, who'd only hours prior been his best friend, quailed before his might, his utter superiority.

"No… No, you couldn't have!" He shouted. "That's impossible! I know you have to have one!"

Naruto smirked devilishly as he let his head fall, swinging it back and forth like a pendulum, so terribly amused by the Uchiha's actions.

"You absolute fool…" He muttered under his breath, baring his teeth to the man.

"I have no three's!" He declared his triumph, knew his victory was assured. "GO FISH!"

Sasuke ground his teeth together, the cards in his hands crumpling in rage.

"You bastard!"

From her bed, Sakura let out a sound reminiscent of a dying animal.

/-/

"And you're sure it's no big deal?"

Haku smiled at her amusedly from his bed as she finished drying her hair, tying it up in its trademark ponytail.

"Yes, I'm sure." Haku laughed quietly under his breath, evidently enjoying how flustered she was. "Honestly, you don't even have to ask. What's mine is yours."

She shot him an appreciative smile as she stepped out of the small bathroom he had in his room.

She was fairly sure only he and the other security staff got their own rooms. It was a smaller space than the one she, Shikamaru, and Choji had been given, but then again, if you divided their space in thirds, it would've been terribly smaller than this one. Honestly, she was a bit jealous, but she tried not to let it bother her, especially when Haku had been nice enough to lend her his shower.

…and just about everything else she'd forgotten, including a change of clothes that was way, way too big on her, a toothbrush, food pills, and a set of rather extravagant soaps.

She didn't question that last one.

"Yeah, well…" She found herself feeling guilty, using his stuff when he was supposed to be in charge of security. "When we get back, I'll take you to dinner, or… whatever you-"

His laughter cut through her attempted dialogue.

"W-what!?" She looked at him a bit indignantly, despite the way he waved a hand, trying to get her to stop.

"It's just… funny is all." He leaned over towards her, pulling her into a hug that had her cheeks heating up. "You couldn't possibly owe me anything, Ino."

_What…?_

"In my darkest hour, you came and rescued me." He spoke softly, lightly rubbing the back of her head. "You pulled me back from the brink, saved me. I'm nothing without you, I exist only for your sake. You don't need to do a thing for me, and I'd be satisfied."

Her stomach turned, a cold feeling settling inside of it, traveling up her esophagus and settling in the back of her throat.

"So, don't worry about me. Focus on your exam, OK?"

She was glad he'd pulled her into a hug, because she wasn't sure if she could've met the boys eyes and not have wanted to run away, not feel bile rise in her throat, not feel her chest tighten, her voice cut off…

She felt dirty. Horrid.

"Y-yeah." Ino pushed him away, standing and looking away from him. "Thanks, Haku. I…"

She could barely open her mouth to speak to him as she sought a way out of the room. She turned towards the doorway, but it seemed so terribly far away. She felt she could collapse at any moment.

And yet, she was at the door, pushing it open. She could remember having called some final words out to Haku, perhaps a 'thank you', or a 'help me' or an 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do it I-'…

That was the worst part. The worst part was that she couldn't even claim this was an accident. She couldn't claim this was some unforeseen circumstance. This had happened because she'd chosen it to happen. Was it the best choice she could've made at the time…?

Two years prior, she'd thought so. Now… now she wasn't so sure. It didn't feel nearly as right, nearly as justifiable when she had to look Haku in the eye. When she had to run from him out of some misguided intention to avoid feeling the guilt in her heart.

She'd felt it before, of course. It wasn't a new phenomenon, but she'd always been able to place it aside, avoid letting it affect her. To say that guilt she felt was for the greater good, for Haku's greater good.

_"I'm nothing without you, I exist only for your sake."_

She choked as she fell to the floor, barely able to pull herself up against the wall beside her and curl into a ball. Her heart felt like it was beating at a mile a minute, and she gripped her chest, trying to keep from passing out.

It was the middle of the night, probably cresting one in the morning. There wasn't a soul roaming the halls anymore, which was good. They wouldn't hear her rasping, wheezing breaths as she struggled on the floor. They wouldn't hear her claw at the carpet, wouldn't hear her sob…

And they wouldn't hear her apologize to Haku for what she'd done to him, either, though that wasn't their faults. Because at the end of the day… she was too much of a damned coward to say a single thing.

/-/

The Third day of rest passed by in the blink of an eye, and the exam was upon them the following morning.

They'd exited the hotel and been led to the opposite end of the Sand Village. Apparently, they now stood in front of a Sand training ground, one used during both survival training and wilderness training. He felt it was appropriate given they'd be dealing with both.

In front of them stood a decently tall wall. It was a good five or so meters high, and presumably a meter or two thick, for a few guards stood at the top, operating what looked like levers to open and close the gate just in front of them.

Kiba looked over the many groups arrayed before him. None looked too terribly nervous, aside from Team Matsuri, who hadn't looked anything _but_ nervous the entire time he'd known them. If anything, he'd have said confidence looked the norm, as several students loudly discussed their plans for navigating the desert.

Not all of them, of course. Team's Guy, Fu, and Asuma stood back, watching them from their own separate place just off to the side. Kiba couldn't help wanting to go over there and strangle the nine of them, because even that girl Fu looked mighty proud of herself, like she might start gloating at any second.

Well, the eight of them was more like it, since Ino looked… horrible, really.

He'd wanted to ask what it was that happened, but the looks he'd gotten from her team had been a pretty decent indicator he should let that particular line of thought go. Whatever had happened, he had a feeling it was due in large part to Haku, who the girl had been doing her best to avoid the previous day, to mixed results.

_Wonder if they had a fight. _He pondered absent-mindedly.

Before he could really contemplate that too hard, there was a commotion at the front of the crowd.

Kiba turned towards it and watched as the gates to the testing grounds opened before them, and two figures stepped out of them.

He recognized them.

"Hey!" He shouted excitedly, waving at the two of them as literally every head turned towards him. "Gaara, Kankuro! Good to see you guys!"

Akamaru barked out a greeting as well, panting happily as he pounced through the crowd, nuzzling up against the two of them.

To their credit, they handled that well, lightly petting the dog before sending him back over.

Hinata and Shino both backed away from him, looking like they wanted to pretend they didn't know him. He wasn't sure why that'd be, given that all he'd done was say hi to some guys he hadn't seen in an awfully long time.

It'd been… what, two years since they'd fought together on that mission? They had battled up against some weird dude from the sand… Sasori he was pretty sure.

Well, mostly those siblings had fought against Sasori, and he'd occasionally thrown out an easily blocked fang-over-fang, but that was beside the point.

There were a few murmured whispers, mostly from some of the people in the sand as they looked towards him.

_Huh… maybe those guys are popular?_

Well, Temari had become Kazekage, but it wasn't like that made her siblings special or anything.

"You have done well to come this far." Gaara called out, raising his voice so that the entire crowd could hear him. "We will now begin the second test of the joint Leaf-Sand Chuunin Exams."

_Oooooooh. They're proctors…_

_…I didn't lose points or anything by interrupting them, did I, cause if I did that would su–_

"The Interim Kazekage has already told you all the rules of this test, but I will remind you of them once more." Gaara continued. "You will enter the desert and survive within it for a full week. During which, you will be pursued by a single Jonin, who you must either capture, or fend off for the full period."

They all nodded.

"You will be entering into the desert in the inverse order you arrived in. Thusly, the sixteenth and final team, Team Matsuri, will enter the desert first."

The bumbling sand trio walked up to the door, and both Yukata and Matsuri shot Gaara awkward smiles.

"After that, we will be releasing the next group every five minutes, until you've all entered into the desert." This time, it was Kankuro speaking. "Remember, team to team combat is prohibited, and those who are found to be taking part will be removed from the exam. Understood?"

There was a chorus of acknowledgements, and Team Matsuri stepped up to the plate.

"Very well, in that case…"

Kankuro and Gaara stepped back, and up at the top, the men manning the gates twisted the levers that controlled the massive wooden doors.

The gate opened at an almost agonizing pace, though he couldn't tell if that was on purpose, given that he'd missed the sand siblings' earlier entrance. Even still, when it finally stood ajar, the desert beyond it didn't look particularly… welcoming.

He got the feeling that was probably the point.

"Let the Second Test of the Join Leaf-Sand Chuunin Exams…"

Team Matsuri charged forward.

"BEGIN!"

**End Chapter 61**

* * *

**Well then, we enter the second exam!**

**I've written the words 'Joint Leaf-Sand Chuunin Exams' A lot today.**

**Nothing much to report, other than that the hype for Worlds in League of Legends is fast approaching. Not sure if... anyone cares, but if you do, get excited!**

**Alright, that's all from me! See you all next week!**


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